Climate Change

Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. These shifts may be natural, such as through variations in the solar cycle. But since the 1800s, human activities have been the main driver of climate change, primarily due to burning fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas. 

Burning fossil fuels generates greenhouse gas emissions that act like a blanket wrapped around the Earth, trapping the sun’s heat and raising temperatures. 

Examples of greenhouse gas emissions that are causing climate change include carbon dioxide and methane. These come from using gasoline for driving a car or coal for heating a building, for example. Clearing land and forests can also release carbon dioxide. Landfills for garbage are a major source of methane emissions. Energy, industry, transport, buildings, agriculture and land use are among the main emitters.

Forestation

In vulnerable climate change situation of the world, one successful strategy to deal with environmental, economical and social problems is to plant and manage trees. In fact, trees provide a wide range of benefits to the people and the region where planted.

MAIN OBJECTIVES
• Reinforce ​​the farming sustainability practices, by limiting the impacts of erosion and at the same time developing additional revenues for farmers.
• Empower the farmers and communities that will promote the plantation practices among their members.
- To increase ground level water and to save the land from draughts and deserts. To fertile agricultural land and to protect the soil.
- To increase the Oxygen level in the environment.

Traditional Sustainable Agriculture

Traditional or regenerative farming of indigenous varieties of grains (rice and millets) are facing competition from hybrid farming methods. In order to continue our sustainable agricultural methods, it is important to raise awareness on the benefits of traditional organic production and get real values ofthe agriculture production.

BHOOMI COLLECTIVE (Indigenous Agricultural Producers from South Gujarat)
https://www.bhoomicollective.co/our-focus

Objectives or Focus Areas:
• Encourage ​and save traditional/regenerative, organicseeds for agricultural crops.
• Encourage minor and marginal farmers for sustainable livelihood.
• Increase the production capacity of traditional agriculture land for zero hunger and no poverty.
• Encourage and sustain maximum tree plantation.
• Support to get rights over forest produce and initiate to create the structure to collect and preserve them.
• Initiate a self-sustainable institutional structure and strengthen it for value addition in order to get real value for our produces. 

Childline (Call: 1098)

CHILDLINE 1098 is a phone number those spells hope for millions of children across India. It is a 24-hour a day, 365 days a year, free, emergency phone service for children in need of aid and assistance. We not only respond to the emergency needs of children but also link them to relevant services for their long-term care and rehabilitation. We have, till date, connected to three million children across the nation offering them care and protection.

VIKALP is the nodal agency of the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development for setting up, managing and monitoring the CHILDLINE 1098 service Block Nizer, Tapi District in the Gujarat State.

International Network

VIKALP is also part of various state and national level networks and at international level VIKALP has an official accreditation with UNFCCC, UNCCD & CBD. VIKALP is also In Special Consultative Status with UN ECOSOC. 

Stand For Land

Stand for Land is a campaign for land awareness. It Stands to make agricultural land more fertile and healthy, so that it gives sustainable and profitable crop production. Land is the main livelihood of rural and indigenous people / farmers. The rights over the land has to be protected. To save land by presenting serious issues such as increasing industrialization, increasing pollution, forest destruction, excessive use of chemical fertilizers in agriculture, soil erosion.

How will the Stand for Land campaign make people aware?
• To ​make people aware about climate change.
• To make people aware about bail pollution.
• To sensitize people to switch to organic farming instead of chemical fertilizers.
• Explain how we can take care of land along with industrialization.
• To encourage and sensitize the people for maximum tree plantation against soil erosion and to make efforts to turn people towards social forestry.
• Trying to make people eco-friendly.
• Taking steps to preserve biological diversity.
- To protect land rights of farmers.
- To promote & support women farmers.

Millet

International Year of Millets - 2023

Millet – Food for Health & Anti-Hunger Campaign

Worldwide ​food trends are changing. The alternative protein sector is at the forefront of global food innovation, and this offers a great opportunity for the Bhoomi Producers’ Collective.

It is time for Millet to regain it’s central position in our diet!

Climate Smart – they can grow in arid and semi-arid climates with temperatures even up to 60 degrees Celsius!

Nutritious – they provide protein, fatty acids, minerals, vitamins, dietary fibre and polyphenols.

Millets are Gluten free and is the food with the highest fibre content per serving.

Millets can help tackle malnutrition, boost farmers’ incomes and economic growth, and contribute to planetary health!

Women Empowerment M ission to A utonomy and Neutrality

To work towards sustainable development goals with special focus on gender equality and climate change.

The ​strategy objective seeks to contribute to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, in particular: zero hunger (SDG 2); to protect human rights and to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls (SDG 5); to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education for all girls and boys, women and men and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all (SDG 4); to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages (SDG 3), to promote social, economic and political inclusion (SDG 10), "Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss" (SDG 15), climate change (SDG 13)

Way forward

In 2023, VIKALP has launched 2 special campaigns in line with Vision & Mission of the organisation.

1) “Millet – a Miracle Grain” to celebrate the International Year of Millet - 2023 declared by the United Nations.

2) It is high time to payback our land through regenerates our resources to save our dying mother earth. “Stand for Land” a campaign to aware and educate world to Save Soil and Natural Resource to keep our earth healthy by say NO to Chemicals based pesticides.

SDGs

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also known as the Global Goals, were adopted by the United Nations in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that by 2030 all people enjoy peace and prosperity.

Focus on the following UN Social Development Goals:
• ​SDG 1: NO POVERTY
• SDG 2: ZERO HUNGER
• SDG 3: GOOD HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
• SDG 4: QUALITY EDUCATION
• SDG 5: GENDER EQUALITY
• SDG 8: DECENT WORK AND ECONOMIC GROWTH
• SDG 10: REDUCED INEQUALITIES
• SDG 12: RESPONSIBLE CONSUMPTION AND PRODUCTION
• SDG 13: CLIMATE ACTION
• SDG 15: LIFE ON LAND
• SDG 17: PARTNERSHIPS FOR THE GOALS