Indebtedness
Nearly eighty percent of our population in our project area live in villages. Among them, nearly seventy percent depend on agriculture for their daily bread. Due to capricious rainfalls, vast majority of cultivable lands remain drought-prone most part of the year. Hence vast majority of rural people remain unemployed and under-employed throughout the year. Inadequate alternative income-generating opportunities in these areas is one of the major causes for widespread poverty.
Poor womenfolk approach local moneylenders for emergency loans to meet their immediate consumption needs and social obligations. These moneylenders charged interests ranging from thirty-six percent to hundered percent. In such situations, poor women become more vulnerable to the whims and fancies of unscrupulous usurers.
Migration
Unable to meet both ends in life, men from poor families migrate to other places. Here again women and children are the victims. In our project area, migration is taking place at two different levels. Poor landless agricultural women labourers migrate on daily basis to work in Estates located in Western Ghats of Kerala State. Men migrate to cities in search of employment opportunities.
Micro Entrepreneurs
So as to address the problems of unemployment, under-employment, indebtedness and lack of alternate livelihood options, GREEN initiated a program called Micro Entrepreneurship Development Program aiming at reducing the negative impact of poverty in the areas of our involvement. Under this program, GREEN has been targeting the rural poor, specifically women from disadvantaged communities, by promoting off-farm employment opportunities. GREEN approached ICICI Bank and ANTENNA Financial Services for financial assistance. Both came forward and are supporting us in our endeavours. The following tables explain our present position in this respect.
