Rajah Spices is Committed to EMPOWERING WOMEN
At Rajah, we are proud of the taste of home that our authentic spices bring to kitchens across the UK, and that is why we want to give back to the communities that support us. We have partnered with SEWA (Self-Employed Women’s Association), the largest women-only trade union in India, for an initiative that aims to improve the lives of women farmers in Gujarat.
From the field to the kitchen, Rajah Spices is committed to empowering women, and with our Sustainable Cumin Program, we are working to give women farmers the tools they need to help themselves. Women in Gujarat who are enrolled in our program get access to all sorts of education, like farming techniques to help them grow cumin more sustainably and financial advice to enable them to open their own bank accounts and take control of their money. We also work to make sure they get fair access to the markets so they can get a good price for their crop. For us, it’s about helping them to build stable and thriving businesses. Rajah believes it’s important that we stay connected to the communities we work with, so we make sure we visit at least once a year. We’re trying to build real relationships with the graduates of the program, and we want to be sure we’re making the biggest impact we can. Last time we visited Patan District we were lucky enough to be able to speak with two women farmers about what taking part in the Sustainable Cumin Program has meant for them.
DAYABEN LALABHAI PARMAR
I have two acres of land in Madhutra village in the Patan District of Gujarat which I use to grow cumin. For many years we could only grow rain-fed crops because the region was so dry, but after the government constructed a canal in the district, we had enough water for irrigation. Lots of the larger farms around me started growing cumin then, so I copied them.
Before this time I didn't know much about how to grow cumin, though, other than the fact it needed lots of water. I copied the larger farms around me and tried to water my crops every time they watered theirs, spending thousands of rupees on water and fertilizers, but in the end we were only harvesting 30-40 tons of cumin – barely enough to pay off our input costs. It was totally unsustainable. 3 years ago, SEWA and Rajah launched their Sustainable Cumin training program, so I enrolled, learning about the importance of deep ploughing, using certified seeds, and the correct times and methods of irrigation, among other things. When I started applying the techniques from Rajah and SEWA’s training to my crops, the results were miraculous. Our input costs for fertilizer, pesticides and irrigation dropped, while our yield almost doubled. Our farm is more than just sustainable now – it’s profitable. My favourite dessert, Puranpoli, used to be too expensive for me to eat very often, but now I’m able to cook Puranpoli for my family on every festive occasion.
The sustainable cumin program is already changing lives in Patan District!
SAKHIBEN KHENGABHAI AAHIR
5p from the purchase of every participating pack o Rajah’s spices will go directly to SEWA to help fun the Sustainable Cumin Program. Our project aims t build relationships with the families and communitie that grow our spices and give low-income women th support and training they need to strengthen thei businesses and improve their lives. Look out fo packs of Rajah’s Chilli Powder, Garam Masal Powder, Dhaniya Powder, Jeera Powder or Hald Powder to help contribute towards a good cause.
I’m from Dhokawada village in Patan District. I switched to growing cumin following the larger farms nearby once the government completed the construction of a nearby canal. We tried to do what they did, using the same chemical fertilizers, but we didn’t have a tractor for deep ploughing, so our cumin kept failing. I’ve been a member of SEWA for the past ten years, just like my mother, so when Rajah in association with SEWA brought the Sustainable Cumin Program to our village, I attended the training to find out what was going wrong. I found out our cumin was actually being burnt by excess chemical
fertilizer because our plants weren’t ploughed deeply enough. I adopted and applied the training to my fields and was amazed at the results. We saved almost 8000 rupees in input costs at the same time as increasing our yield by over a half. I was so inspired by the difference that the Sustainable Cumin Program made to my farm and my life that I signed up to become a master trainer in the program myself. I have since trained 300 women in my district in cumin-growing techniques, using my own field as a demo-plot.