Profile
Ecosaviours - Mahua Livelihood Project
Our project focuses on improving the livelihoods of tribal communities in Patalkot, Madhya Pradesh that depend on the Mahua seed for their seasonal income. These communities rely on a primitive manual method of de-shelling this crucial seed using two small rocks to break it open.
This process is slow and ineffective, causing long term impacts on their health such as posture related issues and short term hand injuries. This process is lengthy and time consuming and thus hampers the education of the children who have no choice but to participate in the gathering and manual processing of this seed.
To combat this problem I have developed a manually operable machine which can de-shell these seeds more effectively. Using a hand crank and a simple rubber drum these communities can achieve what they used to in a month in a matter of hours which will directly increase their income.
With the support of the IB Global youth action fund we hope to produce, distribute, and teach communities how to operate these machines in order to improve their livelihoods. Our long-term goal is to create a scalable, sustainable solution that can be introduced to other villages facing similar challenges.