They moved to remote Sittilingi in Tamil Nadu, built a hospital, then integrated ‘backwards’ into farming and crafts. Through organic farming, women-led producer companies and markets, they tackled malnutrition, debt and migration
In business, backward integration means moving upstream to control one’s inputs. In a small valley in Tamil Nadu, that idea has been turned into an experiment in social medicine. Instead of stopping at curing illnesses in a ward, the Sittilingi Tribal Health Initiative (THI) has pushed steadily ‘backwards’ into farming, food and livelihoods, trying to change the conditions that make people sick in the first place.
What started off as a small effort, with two doctors encouraging four farmers to take up organic farming in 2005, is now a registered producer company, Sittilingi Organic Farmers Association (SOFA), with a turnover of Rs 3 crore.
What started off as a small effort, with two doctors encouraging four farmers to take up organic farming in 2005, is now a registered producer company, Sittilingi Organic Farmers Association (SOFA), with a turnover of Rs 3 crore.