Poonch Project

Partner: ASEEM Foundation

While interacting with people and understanding the root problems in various regions of Jammu and Kashmir, diverse issues came up. Constant communication and dialogue revealed many important areas that need attention from the perspective of development leading to prosperity of the region and the people therein. One of such areas is women empowerment, especially in the regions near to Line of Control (LoC). 

Providing livelihood to women in the odd conditions in these regions is the main focus of the project. SIF has partnered with ASEEM foundation to serve the needs of the farming community with special focus on livelihood management for families in this region.

Problems faced by the women in the Kashmir region near LOC

• The villages bordering the LoC are frequently under alert as there are frequent ceasefire violations in the area. 

• The farmers in this region mainly grow apples and walnuts. Due to the unstable environment, they don’t always have the means to sell their produce or processed goods primarily due to lack of infrastructure and a stable supply chain.

• The women in this region are not able to work and earn as they are bound to stay at home due to unstable conditions caused by the cross-border firing.

• Lack of confidence in women and children.

• No say in decision making in family hence lack of identity 

SIF Initiatives/Solution: Development through Friendship, Communication and Trust

We partnered with Aseem Foundation whose primary efforts are directed towards three areas: Education, Skill development and Social Entrepreneurship Development and Research and Awareness

Our Goal

1. Serve the needs of the villages in the Kashmir border area villages providing a solution to support the farming community as well as the women laborers that work in these farms. 
2. Impart training to these women so they can start a small baking business. These women collect the fallen fruits from the farm (that goes waste anyway) and bring them home to process them and make cookies and caramelized walnuts. 
3. Help them with branding, packaging, transportation and selling the goods online as well as at stores in India through their established supply chain network. 
4. Establish a cooperative of women to produce caramelized walnuts and a bakery to produce baked cookies. There is a well-established market both locally (Indian Army) and nationally for both these products.
5. Train women in financial literacy so they can manage their finances effectively.

Short Term Objectives 

1. Providing an opportunity of self-employment to the Local Women. 
2. Helping the Women to achieve economic stability to support their family. 

Long Term Objectives

1. 1. Helping the Women in the border region to gain emotional & economic stability. 
   2. Make them confident with self-identity
   3. Developing a movement to create a continuous support and oneness with the families residing at LoC ensuring boosting of their self-esteem. 
   4. Effective use of local resources to develop small scale industries specially the Agro-Industries

Establishment of the Bakery

Models followed are

1. Cooperative Model to produce Caramelized Walnuts: The Women in the villages will form a cooperative where they collect raw material centrally to prepare Walnuts at their own places. 
2. Bakery setup: A bakery setup to produce the baked cookies in a central location preferably on a beneficiary’s land. 

Locations

1. Magnar Village (Poonch District) 
2. Faisalabad (Poonch District)

Beneficiaries

1. Women (about 24) 
2. local producers of Apple and Walnut (About 6) 

Our Progress 

We have started a bakery which is supporting 4 women in Magnar. Also in the same village, we have identified additional 8 beneficiaries who are producing caramelized walnuts. In Jan 2020 Aseem volunteers conducted training so these women can start production. The bakery produces about 100 kgs of cookies each month and the other 8 women produce about 48 kgs of caramelized walnuts. Unfortunately due to quality issues, we had to stop the cookies production. Once the beneficiaries are re-trained for quality, we hope to restart soon, hopefully right after the lockdown is lifted.

Currently all 12 women in Magnar are engaged in producing caramelized walnuts. We have received applications from 35 women in Faizlabad and our volunteers are in the process of shortlisting them. The oven for the bakery in Faizlabad has been procured and a place has been identified to set up the bakery. After the lockdown is lifted, we hope to begin the project in Faizlabad. Meanwhile, during the lockdown, cookies and caramelized walnuts produced by our beneficiaries were distributed free of cost to front line workers.

We have had to adapt in many ways due to the Pandemic, halting our production till September of 2020. Due to the supply chain disruption, Aseem distributed the stock of the cookies and caramelized walnuts to Frontline workers and Police personnel in Pune.In September, the Bakery and homes where the walnuts are caramelized were sanitized.The production restarted in October 2020 with the special Diwali gifts packaging. Two solar dryers were also added from the funds provided, which will help dry up the apples and other fruits faster, and generate extra income for beneficiaries. These two solar dryers are used at the Faisalabad Bakery.

Part of the funds were also utilized for the sanitization of the bakery in Magnar. The Faisalabad, Poonch district bakery was started in February 2021. 4 out of the 6 beneficiaries have been recruited through a rigorous short listing process and are currently being trained.1 full time supervisor/trainer has been recruited in Faisalabad bakery, and 2 more women are planned to be recruited in next six months. Our goal is to make this operation sustainable within a year.

Impact of Magnar and Faisalabad bakeries in the Valley 

The Magnar bakery has been a great model for women empowerment in the valley. We have started a new bakery in Faisal Abad and there is a huge demand from other villages in the region for starting more similar bakeries. People from these villages are now requesting our support – Kalakote, Lam (Noushera), Bagga, Samba, and Uri.

Aseem and others involved in this initiative have learned a few lessons:

• The idea to produce baked goods and sell outside the village/state did not seem to yield great results. Alternatively, the  production of local necessities such as Pav, banana bread, cakes, dried fruits etc. yielded much better results and helped with the sustainability of the initiative.
• Also selling produce to local armed forces units proved beneficial as this drastically reduced transportation costs.