Newsletter
Don't miss a thing!
We regularly provide you with the most important news, articles, topics, projects and ideas for One World – No Hunger.
„Game Changers - Women in Agriculture“ Award winner 2020
Ramvati Adiwashi
Housewife and Multiplicator (*1975)
India
Nominating organization:
GIZ, Welthungerhilfe
Project:
Food and Nutrition Security, Enhanced Resilience Project (FaNS)
“Being among the first persons in her village to engage in homestead nutrition gardening, Ramvati Adiwashi proved her dedication and courage for change. She convinced others about the value of gardening and initiated an important transformation in her village. More than 100 people have benefitted from her engagement so far, especially women whom she has guided towards ensuring food security for their families.
This is a major achievement as such individually driven initiatives do have their limitations in the given context. As a migrant worker and coming from a difficult social background, Ramvati Adiwashi faced many stumble blocks. Her passion and impressive persuasive power make her a real leader to drive change in rural areas. Ramvati Adiwashi is leading by example. She started with getting her own family to change their habits and she experiments with new practices and varieties in her own backyard showcasing those to the community. Nothing is more convincing than one’s own practice when it comes to changing behavior in society.
Ramvati Adiwashi shares her knowledge in "food groups" for pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers. It is all about ensuring the best possible nutrition and hygienic practices for caring mothers and their young children. With her engagement, Ramvati Adiwashi strengthens women's self-confidence and empowers them. The jury sees her as a great role model by making women and men aware that every single effort matters and that everyone can make a difference – a real game changer.”
"With my small initiative, I motivate and mobilize other women to establish nutrition gardens and aware them about the importance of dietary diversity, hygiene practices through Tipi Tap, use of Matka Filter to get safe and clean drinking water. It gives me immense pleasure that this small initiative of creating nutrition garden is being appreciated nationally and internationally, and this will motivate me to continue my work. By this recognition, many more women will come forward from my community to join hands for a better future of our village.”
Ramvati Adiwashi
Extract from the nomination
Through a flourishing nutrition garden, Ramvati Adiwashi has become a role model to other women in her village as well as in the nearby villages. The success of Ramvati Adiwashi’s nutrition garden did not simply yield socio-economic benefits, but also empowered her as a woman and a mother, who is being the primary caretaker of her garden and is now able to ensure nutritious food for her family. She now feels confident and looks forward to many more profitable seasons of nutrition gardening. The flourishing of her garden provided her with the much-needed self-confidence and helped her to address nutritional deficiencies among her family members. She also motivates pregnant and lactating women about the importance of breastfeeding and complementary feeding practices using bowl/spoon, use of Matka Filters (local water filters) for safe drinking water and mobilized them for taking up entrepreneurship activities through establishing nutrition gardens.
[nbsp]
“She was one of the first women in her community to initiate the practices of homestead nutrition gardening. She has become the motivator for other women who joined this training and she is actually a Game Changer.”
Neha Khara, nutrition expert, GIZ