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Model village designed and built to meet nine basic necessities of life and create abundance
“Food, water, shelter, clothing, energy, health care, trade, connectivity and education are the nine basic necessities of life and building blocks to create abundance. Every village needs complete control on these necessities to have a fulfilling life in all aspects,” asserts Mr. Kalyan Akkipeddi, Indian youth who quit is well paying corporate job, travelled for 2.5 years across 29 states of the country to understand life of villagers and proposed solution by laying the foundation of ProtoVillage.
ProtoVillage is built for the villagers by the villagers. Mr. Akkipeddi selected Tekulodu village near his native place Anantapuram, Andhra Pradesh to develop the model village that exemplifies abundance through agriculture but in a systematic manner. “I bought 12.5 acres of farmland in the same village with my personal savings. And my wife contributed a lot in this initiative. 12 families agreed to develop the infrastructure without any remuneration instead shall have equal rights to the land as guardians that they would earn only after committing shram-daan for six months! The village had to be developed in a way that it is economically and socially sustainable forever,” he shares.
Water
It all started with creating the arrangements for water as it is extremely important for all farming activities. “Together we made eight ponds with stone walls. The ponds harvest 17 lakh liters of rainwater. Immediately after the first rain the barren land was converted into land fit for farming as we got the water!” he shares.
Shelter
Next step was to have a proper shelter to live comfortably all through the year. ProtoVillage being developed on the principles of eco-friendly there was no question of using cement and bricks. “Therefore we made the permanent structure with recycled empty cement bags. The bags were filled with mud and piled one on top of the other, using barbed wire between layers to prevent slippage. Wooden frames were added for the windows and doors. A tiled roof was made using recycled tiles,” elaborates Mr. Akkipeddi. Plastering was done with mix of lime and sand.
Energy
Solar plant and wind turbine are installed to meet the energy requirements at the moment. “My friends from cities came over and trained the villagers to build and install these solar and wind based energy providing systems. Soon, we shall have a biogas plant in our village,” he adds.
Food
Residents of ProtoVillage have started growing vegetables, pulses and rice for their self consumption. In coming months the excess production shall be sold in the market for earning the revenues through trade. The food is grown organically. “Very soon we shall have stabilized food production system that would enable us to become food secure and prepare ourselves for trade in coming 6 months for sure,” he states. Besides, there is a forest nursery at ProtoVillage having a number of species that are suitable for arid zone afforestation.
Trade
The village would become independent by selling the horticulture produce produced within the village. Further it would have Gramin Aartik Mandali (GRAMAM) to encourage new entrepreneurial ideas. “It is a new representation for boosting the rural economy,” he says.
Connectivity
The village is wi-fi enabled. It was done through partnership with Digital Empowerment Foundation.
The company specializes in connecting remote village with the world through internet technology.
“We are working on having control on education and health care. I am sure it would be accomplished shortly. The work is in progress and ProtoVillage shall be all ready illustrate abundance by August 2017,” believes Mr. Akkipeddi.
When asked about learning the farming intricacies, he responds, “I did learn a lot on farming through google but then I required some technical know-how so I went for many training programs on organic farming, vermicompost, water management and so on!” he highlights.
Speaking of challenges he says, “I was fortunate to meet the right people at the right time therefore no challenges faced as such. Further, I define abundance as to have complete control over nine basic necessities through inter-dependence. So I don’t hesitate in asking for help or being dependent on others to fulfill the basic life necessities. There are many pious souls in the world who are ready to give so we connect with them and things get completed.”
He concludes saying, “I choose to create a new system instead of repairing the existing system! ProtoVillage is a model farm that aims to demonstrate that when a bunch of people come together and form a community to work with inter-dependence then everything happens in routine and abundance is created. I am hopeful it shall be replicated in other parts of the country too!”
Contact details:
ProtoVillage
Tekulodu Village, Anantapuram, Andhra Pradesh 515341
Phone: +91 9741746478
Email: info@protovillage.org
Web: http://protovillage.org/ , https://www.facebook.com/protovillage
“Food, water, shelter, clothing, energy, health care, trade, connectivity and education are the nine basic necessities of life and building blocks to create abundance. Every village needs complete control on these necessities to have a fulfilling life in all aspects,” asserts Mr. Kalyan Akkipeddi, Indian youth who quit is well paying corporate job, travelled for 2.5 years across 29 states of the country to understand life of villagers and proposed solution by laying the foundation of ProtoVillage.
ProtoVillage is built for the villagers by the villagers. Mr. Akkipeddi selected Tekulodu village near his native place Anantapuram, Andhra Pradesh to develop the model village that exemplifies abundance through agriculture but in a systematic manner. “I bought 12.5 acres of farmland in the same village with my personal savings. And my wife contributed a lot in this initiative. 12 families agreed to develop the infrastructure without any remuneration instead shall have equal rights to the land as guardians that they would earn only after committing shram-daan for six months! The village had to be developed in a way that it is economically and socially sustainable forever,” he shares.
Water
It all started with creating the arrangements for water as it is extremely important for all farming activities. “Together we made eight ponds with stone walls. The ponds harvest 17 lakh liters of rainwater. Immediately after the first rain the barren land was converted into land fit for farming as we got the water!” he shares.
Shelter
Next step was to have a proper shelter to live comfortably all through the year. ProtoVillage being developed on the principles of eco-friendly there was no question of using cement and bricks. “Therefore we made the permanent structure with recycled empty cement bags. The bags were filled with mud and piled one on top of the other, using barbed wire between layers to prevent slippage. Wooden frames were added for the windows and doors. A tiled roof was made using recycled tiles,” elaborates Mr. Akkipeddi. Plastering was done with mix of lime and sand.
Energy
Solar plant and wind turbine are installed to meet the energy requirements at the moment. “My friends from cities came over and trained the villagers to build and install these solar and wind based energy providing systems. Soon, we shall have a biogas plant in our village,” he adds.
Food
Residents of ProtoVillage have started growing vegetables, pulses and rice for their self consumption. In coming months the excess production shall be sold in the market for earning the revenues through trade. The food is grown organically. “Very soon we shall have stabilized food production system that would enable us to become food secure and prepare ourselves for trade in coming 6 months for sure,” he states. Besides, there is a forest nursery at ProtoVillage having a number of species that are suitable for arid zone afforestation.
Trade
The village would become independent by selling the horticulture produce produced within the village. Further it would have Gramin Aartik Mandali (GRAMAM) to encourage new entrepreneurial ideas. “It is a new representation for boosting the rural economy,” he says.
Connectivity
The village is wi-fi enabled. It was done through partnership with Digital Empowerment Foundation.
The company specializes in connecting remote village with the world through internet technology.
“We are working on having control on education and health care. I am sure it would be accomplished shortly. The work is in progress and ProtoVillage shall be all ready illustrate abundance by August 2017,” believes Mr. Akkipeddi.
When asked about learning the farming intricacies, he responds, “I did learn a lot on farming through google but then I required some technical know-how so I went for many training programs on organic farming, vermicompost, water management and so on!” he highlights.
Speaking of challenges he says, “I was fortunate to meet the right people at the right time therefore no challenges faced as such. Further, I define abundance as to have complete control over nine basic necessities through inter-dependence. So I don’t hesitate in asking for help or being dependent on others to fulfill the basic life necessities. There are many pious souls in the world who are ready to give so we connect with them and things get completed.”
He concludes saying, “I choose to create a new system instead of repairing the existing system! ProtoVillage is a model farm that aims to demonstrate that when a bunch of people come together and form a community to work with inter-dependence then everything happens in routine and abundance is created. I am hopeful it shall be replicated in other parts of the country too!”
Contact details:
ProtoVillage
Tekulodu Village, Anantapuram, Andhra Pradesh 515341
Phone: +91 9741746478
Email: info@protovillage.org
Web: http://protovillage.org/ , https://www.facebook.com/protovillage