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What?

The families of Sonalnagar are in need of biogas plants — small structures built underground on the side of a house that mix manure from cattle with water to create gas for cooking and heating.

Chantaben and Lalaben are two of siex women whose families have been selected to receive the biogas plants. They were selected based on need (productive time lost collecting wood); family size (between 4 to10 people); access to cattle that produce 25 kilos of manure a day (typically 4 cattle); a plot of land large enough to construct the plant; and a willingness to report on their experience and, if successful, encourage others to participate in the program.

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Why?

Women in Sonalnagar spend 3 to 4 hours everyday collecting 20-50 lbs of firewood to meet their families' needs for fuel. The current practice of burning wood and kerosene is highly damaging to exposed lungs and a serious fire hazard, especially in the homes with grass roofs that are used in Sonalnagar. Women currently collecting wood are losing critical hours that they could use to earn an income or educate and care for their children.

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How?

SEWA and an engineer will visit the selected families to choose a site for their biogas plants. Each site will prepared after which the necessary pits will be dug and masonry work will be completed. The entire process — site selection, material procurement, construction and testing — should take no more than a month.

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History of Sonalnagar Village

In 1971, families from Pakistan migrated to Rajasthan, India to escape the country's communal violence. As refugees in Rajasthan, they received a daily stipend, but were landless. Around 1988, the Indian government offered families that migrated to the Kutch District in Gujarat 10 acres of land. Many of these families, including the 5 participating in this project, moved to Kutch and founded the Sonalnagar Village.

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Community Population: 700

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Climate

Sonalnagar has a dry, semi-arid climate. The village must capture as much water as possible during the rainy season to have access to water for drinking and cleaning (collected through roof rainwater harvesting) and crop irrigation (gathered in farm ponds, small dams, farm bunding). Without these facilities, Sonalnagar's residents are forced to walk long distances to collect water or depend on the arrival of government water tankers.

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Challenges facing Sonalnagar Village

• Sonalnagar does not have access to clean drinking water and sanitation. This lack results in a higher incidence of diseases such as dysentery, cholera fever. These illnesses and the necessity of walking distances to collect water reduce residents' income-earning potential.
• Sonalnagar's women and children spend much of their valuable time collecting fuel for cooking. At times, women spend 3-4 hours traveling 8 km to gather 10-20 kilos of wood.
• Farm land in Sonalnagar is not fertile because it lacks moisture. This reduces the potential yield of harvests and the type of crops that can be grown in the region.
• Sonalnagar also has limited childcare facilities that either limit mothers’ abilities to earn an income or force them to leave their children unattended.
• Major community needs (in order of priority): accessible clean energy source, drinking water, toilet facilities, childcare center, land development

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Main Occupations

Most people in Sonalnagar are agricultural laborers and small marginal farmers that grow ground nuts (peanuts, moong, bajri, guvar, sesame seeds). Many families have cattle (ox, buffalo, cows) that are used for field labor and milk. These animals will become the main fuel source for the biogas plants. In the non-harvest season, people search for casual labor opportunities (digging ditches, road construction, etc.). Many of the women pursue alternative employment opportunities when they have time, mainly embroidery and stitching. Some have taken loans to start businesses. Mataben, for example, owns a rental business for weddings and major religious celebrations

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Families living below poverty line

48

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