Climate Action
Centres to Promote Organic Farming
Model farms have been established at Don Bosco Hassan and Kalaburagi, as demonstration centres to train local farmers, women’s self-help groups, youth, students and other interested people in organic farming practices. In these centres, compost production (vermicompost, vermi-wash, bio-manure), animal husbandry, water management systems (rainwater harvesting, drip irrigation) and multi-cropping organic cultivation of more than 14 types of crops, vegetables and fruits, especially varieties of Moringa, are carried out.
These Centres for Demonstration, Training and Knowledge Management on Moringa plants and Organic farming (CDTKM) are living laboratories for local farmers to understand and experiment with: better soil utilisation, improved crop yield/ per unit of land, decreased cost of inputs, reduced pests and disease attacks. Varieties of fruits, vegetables, rice, corn, coconuts, moringa etc. are cultivated and even processed for market. Vermicompost and bio-manure production promote sustainability for the farms.
The two centres have trained 3000+ farmers, women from SHGs and youth in organic farming so far. Over 800 master farmers have been trained and linkages created with government agricultural institutions.
Sustainable Livelihoods
BREADS’ Women Empowerment through Livelihood and Entrepreneurship (WELivE) programme to create diversified income sources linked to food security is a significant undertaking for marginalised communities. The initiative builds rural women’s capacities to convert their usually unpaid household labour into profitable ventures, enabling sustainable income through microenterprises and social empowerment. In the process, the choice of sustainable livelihoods keeps them connected to their land and actively involved in the protection of their localities through the use of environmentally-sustainable methods of farming and animal husbandry.
Every year thousands of rural women in Karnataka and Kerala are involved in organic farming, livestock and poultry rearing, small fisheries and related small-scale entrepreneurial ventures.
Clean Energy
The unsustainable use of resources has triggered critical scarcities, caused climate change and widespread environmental degradation – all of which have negative impact on the well-being of the planet and its people. We need to power our cities by generating clean, resource-efficient energy and move away from fossil fuels as much as possible.
BREADS offers its contributions in this area by promoting the use of solar-powered and energy- efficient equipment. It is aligned with the Salesian Congregation’s goal to be fully solar-powered by 2032, promoting solar heating, lighting and biogas installations in the Don Bosco presences. BREADS promotes clean transport through its WE AUTO entrepreneurial programme for women from the fishing community.
Afforestation
Fully appreciating the need for increasing the green cover, especially for planting trees to combat some of the effects of global warming, BREADS and its partners actively promote and support the planting of trees whenever possible. All the stakeholders in local communities, especially children, are encouraged to plant and take care of saplings in their vicinities. Last year, BREADS and its partners planted around 4000 saplings on various occasions, including the Vanamahotsava (Forest festival) programme initiated by the Government of Karnataka.
Awareness & Campaigns
As an ecologically-concerned organisation, BREADS developed and implemented its environment policy for the functioning of the organisation, which addresses the management of energy, water, resources, waste, procurement & maintenance, transport and the promotion of green campus spaces wherever possible. As the province planning and development office (PDO), BREADS encourages and supports its partners across Karnataka and Kerala to create their own environment policies, with a set of guidelines developed based on current best practices and recommendations of respected institutions such as the NCERT.
BREADS partners conduct neighbourhood clean-up drives rallies, and celebrations to generate public awareness about the environment on significant days.
BREADS is a member of the Don Bosco Green Alliance, an international Salesian movement of people from the Salesian Family institutions, who contribute to global environmental action, thought and policy.