“poverty-free India, within our lifetime”

The/Nudge is an action institute working towards a poverty-free India, within our lifetime. We partner with governments, markets and civil society to build resilient livelihoods for all.

small and marginal farmers need diversified and sustainable sources of income

*Situation Assessment of Agricultural Households and Land and Holdings of Households in Rural India, 2019

monthly rural agricultural hh income of <₹10,000

tied to unpredictable wage labour

male members migrate; women are left financially vulnerable

landless, marginal and small landholders¹, owning <1 hectare of land²

low savings rates, leaving them more susceptible to shocks such as Covid-19, floods etc

SC/ST/OBC³ hhs, with 5-6 members on avg

Income of rural households in Uttar Pradesh*

Farming

48.60%

Casual & wage

35.20%

Others

14.80%

Livestock

1.40%

Characteristics of target households in UP

1. 97% of rural households are landless, marginal and small landholders
2. 89% of agricultural households own <1 ha of land
3. 81% of agricultural households are from SC/ST/OBC backgrounds

UP = Uttar Pradesh; hhs = households

Uttar Pradesh : low HDI, but high potential for sustainable livelihoods for the poor

: meat production of 1.85L MT

: 15 lac households rear goats with total goat population close to 1.4 cr

: large goat clusters exists in western UP & Gorakhpur

: 2.7L MT of poultry meat, 2B eggs

: high demand for Kuroiler chicken with drive mother unit & sakhi development alongside collective/FPO formation

presence of markets

:proximity to Delhi-NCR & Nepal > higher price realization

low-land ownerships

: high dependence on agri+wage labor,

greater risk of migration amongst men

: need of alternative livelihood options for women, to protect them from shocks

There is a buy-in and commitment from UPSRLM and MGNREGA support to bring and scale the livestock models for the poor

significant meat consumption

: avg consumption is 300g/month/person

*NITI Aayog Report

income addition through livestock needs promotion of pro-poor models at scale

The model has been successful in other states:

Goatery in Rajasthan & Poultry in Maharashtra

assured and steady return on investment:

asset creation for the long term

​

: acts as an alternative, diversified livelihood resource.

Farmers can continue

primary income source

low barrier

to adoption

​

: compared to larger

livestock (₹10-15k/cattle

vs ₹2-3k/goat)

: easier to care for with shorter gestation period, smaller space required for sheds

affordable

inputs

​

: low quantities needed

: low-cost, high quality feed easily available/produceable

barriers to adoption in UP need to be addressed:

promotion of scientific rearing practices

: improve knowledge of scientific rearing to reduce high mortality rates and increase weight gain

: promote utilization of veterinary care

: improve price realization and consistency in income thru improvement in quality of livestock

linking producers to markets

: improve knowledge of marketing practices

: improve access to traditional marketing channels

strengthen community institutions/collectives

: improve trust with farmers

: aggregation of inputs and produce, better access to credit

: better access to markets

opportunity to engage women

​

: women are involved in livestock farming, as opposed to men, who own land and crop production

introducing “Asha Kiran - the hope project” to build the livelihoods of the poorest

improved food security

increased income & savings

increased asset value

access to safety nets & formal credit

scale

via govt

private sector partnerships

targeted outcomes

along with behavioural & entrepreneurship/business skills (price discovery, negotiation, marketing)

impact 2.5 lakh hhs in Uttar Pradesh in 5 years

sustainable livelihoods for rural women*

​

through backyard poultry and goatery

*rural women in landless, small & marginal farming households- SC/ST households, socially excluded & vulnerable minorities

current funding and program partners

supporters

program partners

a strong core team with diverse backgrounds

Ajay Pratap Singh

L&D & Market Linkage Manager

CRISIL, UPSRLM, NRLM

Xavier Institute of Social Service

Sundeep Singh

Operations Manager

TRIF, Srijan, PHFI

IIFM, Jamia Milia, Lucknow University

Pawan Ojha

Delivery Head

DigitalGreen, PRADAN

John Paul

Director, CRD

Amnesty, RB, Frost & Sullivan

BITS Pilani, ISB

Aman Shaikh

Alumni

Product Manager

ZS, Cummins

Ashoka U, Pune U

delivery & operations

product design & management

40 member team incl 8 district managers

advisory board of asha kiran program

Arun Seth

ex-Chairman, British Telecom & Alcatel Lucent

Hari Bhartia

Founder & Co-Chairman

Jubilant Bhartia Group

Hari Menon

Director, Gates Foundation, India

Rajashree Birla

Chairman, FICCI-Aditya Birla CSR Centre For Excellence

Renu Karnad

MD, HDFC Ltd

Sanjiv Mehta

Chairman & MD, HUL

Sanjiv Puri

Chairman & MD, ITC

Vikram Mehta

Chairman, Brookings India

Dr. Mukesh Aghi

President and CEO, USISPF

Krishnan Rajagopalan

President & CEO, Heidrick & Struggles

Neelam Dhawan

Board member (Royal Philips, ICICI Bank)

Vandana Shroff

Partner at Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas

Shivani Garg Patel

Chief Strategy Office, Skoll Foundation

Arun Seth

ex-Chairman, British Telecom & Alcatel Lucent

Vandana Shroff

Partner at Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas

steering committee

Saurabh Chandra IAS Retd

Former Secy, Petroleum & Natural Gas, Govt of India