AGRI – Community centre: reinstating resilience in Marginalized Farming Communities

Abstract

Agrarian Distress is prevalent all over the country. It is more significantly experienced by the marginalized group comprising more than half of the farmers involved in agricultural activities. Distress traps them in a vicious cycle of debt and exploitation, easy way out of which is usually suicide. Suicide rates in India have been ever increasing since 1990s, the intensity of which is now being felt in the country with the farmers now finally coming out together and protesting for their rights. The authorities have intervened and approached distress mitigation in different ways either at policy level (NABARD, MNREGA), institutional level (training centres) and/ or introducing different practices. Some of these approaches have been a great success striving towards bringing about a change. But some of the common observations for failure were either improper implementation or lack of infrastructure or inability to reach the masses (especially in remote region). This thesis is an attempt to identify the role of architecture as a mediator to mitigate distress amongst the communities. Also, to explore the regenerative and context sensitive characteristic of architecture in the lives of farming communities for their resilient future. The Agri-Community Centre is a combination of training and a community centre for the farming communities. The centre essentially aids in providing with a platform for the community to work towards the vision of self-reliance with Permaculture at its very core.