Investing in Jharkhand s women | Newsroom | Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

25/06/2025

Jharkhand, the ‘land of the forests’ is also a land of contrasts. In this part of eastern India, the soil is rich with minerals, ripe for farming, but often blighted by droughts and erratic monsoons.

Scattered across the state are remote hamlets, where subsistence farmers work with limited resources and outdated tools in fragmented landholdings. Villagers walk the narrow paths between fields, carrying baskets of vegetables or bundles of firewood on their heads, forging a living from the land.

In Jharkhand’s Gumla district, one small community hub is alive with activity. Inside, women of all ages – some with toddlers on their laps – gather for a producer group meeting.

Outside, lush rows of brinjal, pulses and tomatoes stretch across the landscape, a testament to their hard work. The women discuss strategies to bring their vegetables to market. These crops have been meticulously planned to supply feasts and rituals for the upcoming Sohrai (harvest) festival held in October and November.

For these women, this meeting is not just about the harvest, but about creating a stronger, more secure future together.

Like 200 000 households across the state, these women are transforming their livelihoods through the Jharkhand Opportunities for Harnessing Rural Growth (JOHAR) programme.

With design and implementation support from the Investment Centre of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the programme has empowered Jharkhand’s women by investing in agricultural technologies and opening access to markets.

Led by the Department of Rural Development, Government of Jharkhand, implemented by the Jharkhand State Livelihood Promotion Society (JSLPS) and supported with financing from the World Bank, the JOHAR programme has helped more than 150 000 households shift from subsistence paddy rice farming to high-value agriculture.

These households now cultivate profitable crops like fruits and vegetables in addition to livestock products – with many seeing income surges of over 35 percent.

In just four years, JOHAR’s 21 women-led Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), representing around 4 000 producer groups, have achieved a business turnover of approximately USD 21 million. Farmers benefit directly through better terms of trade – by purchasing inputs at lower prices than in open markets and selling their produce to FPOs on more favourable terms than through other channels.

For the women of these producer groups, this means their children can go to school and their livelihoods are more secure. Their success demonstrates that Jharkhand’s farmers have transformative power when given access to the right resources.

Asha Devi – now the Chair of Kanke’s producer group – is just one of these women.

“I got married young and I stayed at home. We used old farming techniques and grew small amounts for our families – we didn’t take anything to the market to sell,” she recalls.

But when she joined the Kanke producer group, formed under the JOHAR programme, she saw an opportunity to pool her resources and sell produce together with other farmers, overcoming the challenges of fragmented landholdings and limited mechanization.

Additionally, the Kanke producer group received investment and support from JOHAR to develop high-value agriculture, providing them access to better tools and modern techniques.

Smallholders can rent affordable farm equipment and machinery from JOHAR’s app-based Custom Hiring Centres – with ‘one-stop-shop’ Agri-marts providing easy access to quality seeds, fertilizer and tools – helping to improve productivity.

A digital mobile app also developed by the programme helps farmers with crop planning, monitoring and pest-disease advisories, while a dedicated call centre provides expert support, grievance redressal and timely information on markets and financial support.

As business thrived, Asha stepped up to lead her producer group. Together with fellow women leaders from the Bero and Mandar districts they identified the need for better market access and business development.

With support from the Government of Jharkhand, investment from the World Bank and technical expertise from FAO, they founded the Sarhul Ajeevika Farmer Producer Company Limited, a cooperative of producer groups working together to capitalize on production timing and market access.

Under the direction of Asha and these women leaders, Sarhul has flourished. The company now incorporates over 14 000 women, who each have a financial stake in the company.

“Today, we understand everything about our businesses, from profit margins to local market demands. We’ve learned how to negotiate together for better prices, and we know that we don’t have to settle for less,” Asha exclaims.

These skills have enabled Asha and other women farmers to take charge of their own finances. “Our children now say their mothers are entrepreneurs, and that’s our biggest reward,” she says.

Value chain support

Sarhul CEO, Sanjeev Kumar, testifies to its growth and potential. “We are supporting women-led businesses and monitoring the market,” he explains. “In 2019, we did business worth just ₹ 200 000 (USD 2 300). By 2023, we had grown to ₹ 25 million (USD 290 000), and today, we’re on track for ₹ 35 million (USD 405 000) – a growth rate of over 180 percent!” he says.

K. Srinivasan, Secretary of the Rural Development Department for the Government of Jharkhand, holds this success up as a tribute to the integrated, value chain approach of JOHAR.

“JOHAR has introduced village women to modern agriculture technologies and processing techniques. Many of these women are tribal, and some were landless. They are now successfully bringing their produce to market, which is boosting their household incomes. We have seen significant results here, throughout the value chain,” he remarks.

Building businesses

At the bustling Agri-mart by a teeming junction in Patratu, Ramgarh, manager Deepak Kumar showcases his products. “I supply agricultural goods across the blocks,” he says. “Farmers come here for top-quality products at affordable prices, including earthworm manure and innovative pest control solutions like pheromone traps, sticky traps and lemongrass sprays.”

“When we introduced high-value agriculture, we saw the need for better inputs,” said Deepak Upadhyay, Acting JOHAR Project Director of the JSLPS. “We set up local Agri-marts, then launched seedling nurseries to boost productivity, backed by improved infrastructure for timely harvests.”

More than 550 soilless seedling centres and poly-house nurseries – run by women entrepreneurs – now supply strong seedlings to both group members and nearby farmers, building thriving rural businesses.

At the same time, irrigation was introduced for the first time – many using solar pumps. Water User Groups were formed, benefiting over 60 000 households. “Solar irrigation is a game changer,” Upadhyay added. “To ensure access, we developed tricycle-mounted pumps, allowing women farmers to bring water to their fields with ease.”

Crucially, the programme has also provided targeted support to poultry and goat producers, through its trained cadre of over 1 500 village-based female Community Service Providers – “Pashu Sakhis”, who provide technical, business and market advice to farmers.

Trained in partnership with the Agriculture Sector Skills Council of India, Pashu Sakhis offer inputs, training, advice for production and marketing, insurance and monitoring, with expertise in livestock, vegetable production, fisheries, and non-timber forest products.

“Cadres from within the farming communities provide crucial knowledge and support, boosting productivity and improving value chains,” said Secretary K. Srinivasan.

Investing in livestock

Near Asha’s home in Kanke lives Dharmi Devi in the tribal village of Malsiring, a community of subsistence farmers, with many homes built from mud and thatch.

Forced to abandon her education due to financial hardship, today Dharmi is a successful backyard poultry producer who has risen to the position of co-Director of Sarhul, alongside Asha.

Dharmi has also been elected by the village to become the head of the Village Council.

“It’s like a dream, but it’s my reality,” Dharmi shares.

Through Sarhul, Dharmi and her local producer group received 30 hens – a modest start which Malsiring’s women farmers turned into a thriving business.

“We sold the first batch and earned a profit of ₹ 10 000 (USD 110), which inspired me to invest, buy 100 more hens and double my profit,” she explains. “Sarhul handles the sales and arranges transport to market.”

In Jharkhand, over 65 000 households have benefited from livestock support and value-chain investment, including in commercial poultry farming. Producers like Dharmi have seen incomes increase 84-fold from around ₹ 800 (USD 10) to ₹ 72,000 (USD 840).

Scaling-up investment

Dharmi’s chicks started life at the Divyansh Agro Poultry Hatchery, near Ranchi. Here at the hatchery, rows of incubators – precisely regulated for temperature and humidity to create ideal hatching conditions – transform eggs into healthy chicks. Chirps echo through the hatchery as the chicks receive nutrition and vaccinations, setting them up for a robust start in life.

This facility is a crucial link in the chain of support to backyard poultry producers like Dharmi. She and other smallholders from nearby villages collect boxes of chicks, to raise them in backyards until they’re ready for market.

“Our mission has always been to support the villagers,” explains Vikash Kumar Choudhary CEO, Divyansh Agro Poultry Hatchery. "When we started in 2021, we were delivering 10 000 chicks weekly, but as we partnered with JOHAR, demand grew, and we increased our capacity to 100 000 per week – a ten-fold increase in a couple of years.”

The hatchery specializes in producing healthy and high-quality backyard poultry breeds like Sonali and Croiler, which are in demand by rural women’s producer groups, like Dharmi’s.

"By improving the breeding system, they can produce more eggs and meat in less time," Vikash says.

Vikash faced significant challenges in securing investment for his business. "When we started, no bank would talk to us," he recalls. "But after connecting with JOHAR and scaling up production, orders grew, and banks took notice."

Driven by a commitment to support rural farmers, Vikash innovated a solar-powered hatchery machine capable of hatching 500 eggs at once. "I realized if I faced challenges, rural women farmers would face even bigger barriers. This machine allows farmers to hatch chicks at home and become entrepreneurs."

Vikash attributes his success to the programme’s support: "Training on hatchery management and chick quality, along with connections to backyard growers, helped us expand from a small business to a major supplier, serving Jharkhand and beyond."

JOHAR has not only increased the availability of poultry to backyard growers – it has also created an organized value chain. Women can buy quality chicks and sell their poultry at a fair price, with profits distributed among them.

With mortality rates for poultry plummeting due to improved knowledge, inputs and vaccination, farmers are achieving remarkable egg production levels. Each household now produces up to 90 000 eggs annually, with 80 000 eggs collected daily from 300 households and sold through Sarhul, ensuring fair prices and market access.

These poultry initiatives are now producing three million eggs annually – around five percent of Jharkhand’s entire egg supply – reducing the state’s dependence on imports. Farmers like Dharmi are benefiting, not only from increased incomes, but also from improved nutrition and food security.

Livelihood opportunities for tribal groups

Up in the forested hills of Bero to the east of Ranchi, a lemongrass distillation facility radiates productivity. A man tends a roaring furnace, feeding the flames to extract essential oil. Nearby, piles of fragrant dry lemongrass await processing, while women carry bundles of freshly cut grass from the surrounding fields. The air is filled with the earthy, citrus scent as the facility transforms the raw material into a valuable product.

Sarhul brought more than 250 tribal women together to form this lemongrass producer group, growing the crop across 70 acres of previously uncultivable land.

With investment through JOHAR, a distillation facility was established, producing 350 litres of high-quality oil in 2023, now sold across the state. Across Jharkhand, JOHAR has set up five such facilities, generating substantial profits for farmers.

Mithila Devi, producer group member, proudly presents the facility. “Earlier, we didn’t know how to grow and sell lemongrass, but after joining JOHAR, we realized this would bring us a good profit – even in the dry season,” she explains. “I have lived in poverty since childhood, but I have been enabled to work for this, and to help other women do well too.”

In Jharkhand, where forests play a vital role in rural livelihoods – particularly for marginalized tribal groups – harvesting aromatic plants and non-timber forest products sustainably and profitably has helped to diversify livelihoods and build resilience.

In a nearby tribal village in Raidih, women skilfully cultivate lac – a natural resin secreted by insects on host trees – a practice which has been passed down through generations. Under the forest canopy they inspect the resin-covered branches. Some scrape away pests or apply new lac brood to ensure healthy growth, while others collect the hardened resin.

Lac, prized for its use in cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, provides these remote villages with a sustainable source of income. Its climate-resilient nature helps to ensure income security for farmers, particularly during droughts, when staple crops like paddy may fail.

Traditionally, communities here depended on forests during lean agricultural months but lacked modern techniques and facilities to fully benefit. Throughout Jharkhand, these investments have transformed forest resources, like lac and lemongrass, into market-ready products by building facilities, supporting producer groups, and connecting communities to buyers.

In addition to boosting productivity and promoting quality produce from hard-to-reach areas, JOHAR has ensured that producer groups access markets through informed market analysis and production planning.

Farmers can now produce the right products, at the right time, for the right market.

Land of opportunities

The journeys of Asha, Dharmi and Mithila and thousands of other women are testament to the transformative power of investing in women’s skills development, producer groups and local value chains.

With leadership from JSLPS, and partnership from FAO and the World Bank, thousands of Jharkhand’s women have not only improved their livelihoods but also created a model of agrifood system transformation that will continue to benefit their communities for generations to come.

This is part of a series of stories to mark the 60th anniversary of the FAO Investment Centre, highlighting decades of partnerships, initiatives and investments that have shaped agrifood systems. Explore how the FAO Investment Centre continues to drive agricultural investment and finance solutions, transforming lives globally.

Investing in Jharkhand’s women

Support for Indian women farmers boosts economic empowerment, productivity and incomes