DEVELOPING A CULTURE OF SUSTAINABLE CONSUMPTION AND LIFESTYLE THROUGH ORGANIC PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION IN STATE OF RAJASTHAN (PROORGANIC II) and BRIDGE YEAR, 2021

About Project

India is mainly an agricultural country, where over 58 present of nation’s population is involved for livelihood. There is huge untapped potential of organic farming in India. Organic farming emerged as a potential alternative for meeting food demand, maintaining soil fertility and increasing soil carbon pool. The promotion of sustainable consumption and production is directly related to consumer’s safety and demand for organic products can be created in many ways.

This is an important aspect of sustainable development, which depends on achieving long-term economic growth that is in accordance with environmental and social needs. Use of pesticides and chemicals in agriculture production is one of the major causes of environmental degradation and is quite harmful for human health. The chemicals in food products adversely affect reproduction capabilities in women and girls. Moreover, Indian societies being largely patriarchal needs of women are not prioritised. Hence, they are likely to suffer from chemical contamination of food. Therefore, adoption of organic consumption will benefit mostly the female population of India.

ProOrganic II: An Overview

‘ProOrganic’ project was initiated in November, 2013 to promote organic consumption in the State of Rajasthan. The objective of the project was to create demand among consumers for organic products and sensitise farmers for shifting towards organic farming and advocacy on issues related to organic farming. The project was concluded in March, 2017 with major activities getting accomplished in a span of three years like Awareness Generation Campaigns, Organic Fairs, Farmer’s Training and Exposure Visits, Consultations apart from research components in the project area. The project had a deep impact as a remarkable increase in the area of organic farming was observed in the State. In addition, there was also a hike in demand for organic products by the consumers.
Looking at the success of phase-I, the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation (SSNC) further agreed to extend its support for another four years to implement phase-II of the project entitled ‘Developing a Culture of Sustainable Consumption and Lifestyle through Organic Production and Consumption in the State of Rajasthan (ProOrganic II)’ from April 01, 2017 to March 31, 2021 in 192 gram panchayats (in 10 selected districts of Rajasthan, India).
One of the basic idea of the project is promoting sustainable consumption and production, which are important aspects of sustainable regime. This is largely consistent with the environmental and social factors, and education and empowerment of consumers. In ‘ProOrganic II’ project, focus is on the aspect of sustainable food and farming, and to formulate an agenda to achieve it. This will be acquired through promoting organic production of farm products on one hand, and promoting organic consumption, on the other. Consequently, this would lead to sustainable development in agriculture and environmental sector, as a whole. The target group of the project comprises entire population of the covered 10 districts, 96 blocks and selected 192 gram panchayats in Rajasthan.

Project Objectives

• To develop a culture of sustainable development through sensitisation awareness generation, and education on organic consumption and production
• To generate awareness among consumers about organic products like benefits, availability etc.
• To build capacity of farmers to adopt organic farming
• To promote and increase consumer’s demand for organic products
• To encourage consumers to shift towards organic products and sustainable consumption and
• To sensitise and advocate with the concerned stakeholders including government agencies to promote organic products in Rajasthan prone

Project Brochure