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Green Action Week - 2017

Safer, more Sustainable Food for All Activity Completion Report

Executive Summary

Green Action Week, which is an annual civil society campaign being organised in 29

countries with involvement of 53 civil society organisations. The Green Action Week

Campaign 2017– Safer, more Sustainable Food for All aimed to facilitate awareness

generation among consumers of Jaipur city of Rajasthan about organic food, specifically

vegetables and fruits that would encourage consumers to shift towards sustainable

pattern of consumption. The campaign was targeted at women and youth amongst the

consumers.

With the rationale of influencing consumer behaviour in favour of organic food, various

activities in the form of Kitchen Gardening, Cottage Meetings, Street Plays, Signature

Campaign and Stakeholder Consultation took place in various parts of Jaipur. CUTS

collaborated with several civil society organisations, consumer groups, producer

groups, policymakers and media to lead towards enhanced availability, affordability and

consumption of organic food products.

Objectives

The objectives of the campaign are to:

• raise consumer awareness of the environmental impacts of consumption and

promote sustainable patterns of consumption;

• generate awareness among consumers about organic vegetables and fruits that

would encourage consumers to shift towards organic agricultural products and

sustainable consumption;

• promote consumers’ demand for organic vegetables and fruits;

• foster policy and practice for promoting the use of organic agricultural products

thereby contributing towards sustainable pattern of consumption; and

• encourage more people to consume organic products and thereby promote a shift

towards an ecologically sustainable food system for all.

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About the Campaign

This year, the theme was Safer, more Sustainable Food for All which targeted urban

consumers to expand the outreach at 35 localities in city of Jaipur. The main rationale of

this campaign was to make consumers as well as producers and decision makers aware

of the benefits of organic food and farming is one of the changes needed to promote a

shift towards sustainable food and farming globally.

The major key activities of this year were: Kitchen Gardening, School Campaign, Cottage

Meetings, Street Plays, Signature Campaign and Stakeholders Consultation Meeting. The

first activity commenced on August 03, 2017 with meetings for Kitchen Gardening and

was completed by October 12, 2017 with Stakeholders’ Consultation. 100 Kitchen

Gardens as the main outcome of this year’s campaign were developed in different

localities of Jaipur. Maximum participation of mix group of people and their enthusiasm

to know about organic farming (kitchen gardening) shows that the level of awareness

among people is now rising as compared to previous years.

Their were two main speakers, one was Amit Sharma from Kisan Call Centre (Farmer

Call Centre), Jaipur, who has done Master’s in Agriculture and Rajdeep Pareek,

graduated from Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, who is also a team member in the

ProOrganic project briefly explained requirements, methodology and benefits of organic

farming and how one can plant and promote kitchen gardening and roof top gardening

in surround (house) areas. Sharma shed light on four major principles for identification

of fresh vegetables/fruits which are free from chemicals.

Do not purchase off-season vegetables and fruits

Always buy vegetables and fruits in evening instead in early morning

Do organic farming in your house area in the form of kitchen gardens

Be aware of buying shining vegetables/fruits

Preparatory Meetings for Kitchen Gardening

During August 03-12, 2017, total 10 meetings were organised in 10 different localities

of Jaipur to facilitate the identified persons for kitchen gardening. The resource person

for these meetings was Amit Sharma, who provided technical inputs to participants

about kitchen gardening. Seed kits (four seasonal vegetable seed packets) and manure

(10 kg/person) were distributed among participants during the meeting. Total 100

kitchen gardens were developed in different localities of Jaipur.

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The details of the Kitchen Gardening meetings are mentioned below:

S. N. Date Venue Participants

1 August 03, 2017

33, Ganesh Colony, Khatipura, Jaipur 10

2 August 03, 2017

33, Ganesh Colony, Khatipura, Jaipur 10

3 August 04, 2017

3, Pratapnagar, near Vaidh vatika Colony, New Sanganer Road, Sodala, Jaipur

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4 August 04, 2017

Vijay Kunj, Marriage Garden, Ganesh Marg, 60 Feet Road, Mahesh Nagar, Jaipur

13

5 August 09, 2017

B- 44, Mahavir Colony, Toll Tax, Tonk Road, Sanganer, Jaipur

13

6 August 09, 2017

Urban Primary Health Centre, Manoharpura, Jagatpura

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7 August 11, 2017

Tila No-7, Mahadev Temple, Jawahar Nagar

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8 August 11, 2017

Gali No.17, Dayanand Nagar, Someshwarpuri, Ghat Ki Guni, Jaipur

14

9 August 11, 2017

19, Hardev Vihar, Vaishali Marg, Meenawala, Jaipur

12

10 August 12, 2017

Jhulelal Temple, Bani Park, Jaipur 17

Total 127

School Campaign

In order to sensitise and create awareness among youth targeting students using

organic food in their consumption pattern, 10 school meetings were organised in 10

different schools of Jaipur city. The students were mainly from 6th to 12thclass. The

services of subject experts were taken to facilitate these meetings.

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The details of the School Campaign are mentioned below

S. N. Date Venue Participants

1 September 07,

2017

Suryodaya School, Bajri Talai, Behind Jain

Chatrawas, Sanganer

173

2 September 08,

2017

Choudhary Vidhya Niketan, Bagru 67

3 September 09,

2017

Kamaldeep Sr. Sec. School, Opp. Geetanjali

Hotel, Sanganer, Jaipur

64

4 September 09,

2017

Govt. Sr. Sec. School, Gopalpura devari,

Triveni Square, Gopalpura Bypass, Jaipur

52

5 September 13,

2017

Govt. Sr. Sec. School, Someshwari, Jhalana,

Jaipur

198

6 September 19,

2017

Govt. Sr. Sec. School, Jagatpura, Jaipur 45

7 September 20,

2017

Govt. Sr. Sec. School, Malviya Nagar, Jaipur 89

8 September 22,

2017

Govt. Sr. Sec. School, Indra Nagar, Jaipur 108

9 September 23,

2017

Sharda Vidhya Bhawan Sr. Sec. School,

Panchyawala, Jaipur

59

10 September 23,

2017

Govt. Girls Sr. Sec. School, Adarsh Nagar, 20

Dukaan, Jaipur

172

Total 1027

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Cottage Meetings

In order to sensitise and create awareness among consumers particularly urban

consumers on incorporating organic food in their consumption pattern, ten cottage

meetings were organised in different localities of Jaipur city. The participants were of

diverse backgrounds ranging from housewives to women entrepreneurs and from home

makers to higher academia and consumer belonging to different socio-economic groups

including Aanganwadi workers. These awareness generation-cum-sensitisation

meetings were held with various communities in residential areas. The services of

subject experts were taken to facilitate these meetings, where they were called from

agencies working extensively in the field of organic farming.

Details of the Cottage Meetings are mentioned below

S. N. Date Venue Participants

1 August 30,

2017

Heera Valley Resort, Harinagar 3,

Swej Farm, Sodala, Jaipur

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2 September

06, 2017

Baba Ramdev Mandir, Gali No.1,

Ambedkar Colony, Ashokpura,

Sodala, Jaipur

105

3 September

07, 2017

B-44, Mahaveer Colony, India Gate

Sanganer, Jaipur

59

4 September

08, 2017

Mahindra Training Centre, Bagru,

Jaipur

53

5 September

15, 2017

Shri Amar Lal Mandir, Bhaskar Marg,

Bani Park, Jaipur

49

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S. N. Date Venue Participants

6 September

13, 2017

Dayanand Nagar, Jhalana, Jaipur 84

7 September

19, 2017

Manoharpura Basti, Jaipur 92

8 September

20, 2017

Kailgiri Basti, Shiv Colony, Opp. C To

Plaza, Malviya Nagar, Jaipur

90

9 September

23, 2017

Khakiton ka Mandir, Khatikon ki

Dhal, Sanganer, Jaipur

34

10 September

26, 2017

19, Hardev Vihar, Vaishali Marg,

Meenawala, Jaipur

61

Total 671

Street Plays

In order to reach out to a wider audience in an attempt to modify consumer behaviour

in favour of organic products, 15 street plays were organised at various market places

of Jaipur. Through these street plays, actors depicted the importance of consuming and

producing organic fruits and vegetables. The script of the play was very coherent in

terms of involving every aspect of organic production and consumption and actors gave

a vivid representation to the beautifully written script. The street play targeted not only

consumers but also farmers. Also, places were very appropriate, where these plays

were organised in terms of attracting large number of people. The audience comprised

of all age-groups, from different socioeconomic background and gender thus catering to

the needs of the entire consumer group as a whole.

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Details of the Street Plays are mentioned below

S. N. Date Venue

1 September

04, 2017

Chandpol 2. Space Cinema 3.ChomuPuliya 4.Vidhyadhar

Nagar

2 September

05, 2017

Sanganeri Gate 2. Ghat Gate 3.Transport Nagar 4.Raja Park

3 September

06, 2017

Gopalpura 2.GujarkiThari 3.Thari Market 4.Malpura Gate

4 October

03, 2017

Jhalana Dungari 2.Bajaj Nagar 3.Indra Nagar

Signature Campaign

With the aim to create awareness that will translate into ownership that pressurises the

government to act in favour of organic agriculture, a signature campaign along with

sensitisation meetings and street plays was organised at various places within the city.

Large number of spectators, participants in street plays and by passers got attracted

to signature campaign and signed their support for enhancing organic culture in the

country. Their small signature not only supported and boosted the morale of the

project team but also provided a base for further advocacy with government.

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Stakeholder’s Consultation Meeting

To mark the conclusion of GAW activities, CUTS organised Stakeholder’s Consultation

Meeting at Jaipur on October 12, 2017. The objective was to advocate for a shift in policy

towards organic consumption and production, where more than 90 representatives

from civil society/consumer organisations, farmers’ group, media and government

departments participated. Vikas Sitaramji Bhale, Commissioner, Department of

Agriculture, Government of Rajasthan was the Chief Guest. Other guest speaker was

Sheetal Prasad Sharma, Director, Rajasthan State Institute for Agriculture Management.

A.K Gupta, Dean of SKN Agribusiness Management College, Jobner; B D Yadav, Professor

of Horticulture, Rajasthan Agricultural Research Institute, Durgapura, and Gajendra

Sharma, Agriculture Research Officer, Pant Krishi Bhawan, Jaipur, were present as

technical speakers.

Concluding Remarks

Based on the activities completed so far it is stated that Green Action Week, a

complimentary programme of ProOrganic II, touched upon the urban population and its

level of awareness and need for organic food. Presently only 0.4 percent of agricultural

land in Rajasthan is under organic farming and further emphasised on need for

campaigning among all stakeholders to promote organic food and farming at all levels.

The campaign generated good and positive responses from participants. CUTS

developed 100 kitchen gardens successfully in different localities of Jaipur.

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Partners

Maulik Foundation, Jaipur

Parivar Seva Sansthan, Jaipur Hardev Sikshan Eevam Jan Kalyan Sansthan, Jaipur

Swajan Social Development and Health Education Samiti, Jaipur

Shorya Smaj Sevi Evam Swavayavsay Prashikashan Sansthan, Jaipur

Gramin Aarthik Samudaik Punanirmanevam Vikas Sansthan, Jaipur

Satyachitt Pushpanand Samajik Vikas Sanstha, Jaipur

Orion Greens

Highlights

Maximum participation of women’s group and students

Reached out to major parts of walled city and outer areas of Jaipur

Developed 100 kitchen gardens

More than 90 participants witnessed Stakeholders’ Consultation

Key Observations

Consumers are aware of organic food as well as its health benefits

Availability and accessibility

Affordability

Felt need for on-going awareness programme

People were very much interested in developing kitchen gardens

Need for developing kitchen gardens

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Media Coverage

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IEC Material