Key figure behind accomplishments of women farmers in India, PV Satheesh, passes away. Over the last four decades, he helped about three thousand women small farmers form village-level. PV Satheesh(78), who founded the Deccan Development Society (DDS) to work with underprivileged women in the backward Zahirabad region in Telangana, passed away.
Hyderabad, March 18: Renowned Indian farmer and social activist, Periyapatna Venkata subbaiah Satheesh, has passed away at the age of 68. Satheesh was the key figure behind the numerous accomplishments of women farmers associated with the Deccan Development Society in Telangana, South India. He was also a revered teacher to many and shaped the perspectives and understanding of those who worked with him.
Satheesh was one of the founders of the Deccan Development Society and worked tirelessly to put millets onto the global discourse for the first time, over thirty years ago. He led the organization’s efforts to promote millet cropping systems for regenerative agriculture, reclamation of fallow lands, and provision of employment within rural India. His work was also focused on promoting millets for nutrition, autonomy, and sovereignty of communities, especially empowering women farmers to take a leading role.
Satheesh was a development communication expert who led India’s SITE experiment in the 1980s. His work was centered around putting the triply marginalized Dalit woman farmer first and empowering them to take charge of their own communities. He was highly innovative and received for his work in establishing an alternative Public Distribution System called the “Community Grain Fund,” which was based on millets rather than paddy rice.
Satheesh also worked on reviving local seed systems and created the sangam market or “Market of the Walkouts,” which current-day Farmer Producer Organizations need to draw inspiration from. He opened up community media spaces where illiterate Dalit women could showcase their perspectives and work to the world, investing in the next generation by organizing children and drawing them into deep conversations.
Satheesh’s deep love for the people of the Deccan region, his true respect for their wisdom, knowledge, and culture, and the trust he placed on marginalized Dalit women is a lesson to be imbibed by all development workers. Satheesh’s work in establishing millet-based food systems and the way in which that work unfolded will continue to inspire countless others.
