In news
Recently, the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare mentioned about the assistance given to women farmers under Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana (MKSP)
About Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana (MKSP)
- The Ministry of Rural Development started this scheme to provide facilities to women farmers.
- MKSP is a sub-component of Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana- National Rural Livelihood Mission (DAY –NRLM), which is under implementation since 2011.
- The primary objective of MKSP is to empower women by making systematic investments to enhance their participation and create sustainable livelihood for rural women.
Focus & Strategy
- MKSP recognizes the identity of “Mahila” as “Kisan” and strives to build the capacity of women in the domain of agro-ecologically sustainable practices.
- It has a clear vision to reach out to the poorest of poor households and expand the portfolio of activities currently handled by the Mahila Kisan.
- The focus of MKSP is on capacitating smallholders to adopt sustainable climate resilient agro-ecology and eventually create a pool of skilled community professionals.
- Its objective is to strengthen smallholder agriculture through promotion of sustainable agriculture practices such as Community Managed Sustainable Agriculture (CMSA), Non Pesticide Management (NPM), Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF), Pashu-Sakhi model for doorstep animal care services, Sustainable regeneration and harvesting of Non-Timber Forest Produce.
Specific objectives of MKSP
- To create sustainable agricultural livelihood opportunities for women in agriculture.
- To enhance the participation of women in agriculture in a productive manner.
- To enhance the marginal capacities of women in agriculture for better management of biodiversity.
- To improve the skills and capabilities of women in agriculture to support farm and non-farm based activities.
- To enable women to have better access to inputs and services of the government and other agencies.
- To improve the capacities of women in agriculture to access the resources of other institutions and schemes within a convergence framework.
Themes under MKSP are:
- Sustainable Agriculture
- Non-Timber Forest Produce
- Livestock
- Fisheries
Key features
- MKSP recognizes the centrality of women in agriculture and therefore aims to provide direct and indirect support to enable them to achieve sustainable agriculture production.
- It mainly focuses on strengthening community institutions of poor women farmers and leveraging their strengths to promote sustainable agriculture.
- Funding: Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) provide 75% (90% for North East and hill states) to the project submitted by the State Governments/PIAs under MKSP. Balance is to be contributed by the respective state governments or any other donor agencies, national and international.
- Implementation: The program is being implemented by NRLM in partnership with State Departments/CSO as implementing partners.
Source: PIB
