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*These milestones are outcomes of our TRIBAL project carried out in Araku Valley. TRIBAL, short for Transformational Regenerative Integrated Biodiverse Agriculture for Livelihoods, is registered by Archipel under the Verified Carbon Standard, as its regenerative portfolio is designed to capture about 4 million tonnes of carbon over a period of 20 years.
All images – Graeme Williams
Transformation of Cheduputtu Village
We specialise in creating and distributing regenerative portfolios which enable smallholding farmers to revitalise their soils, diversify their crops, fortify sustainable incomes, and sequester carbon long-term.
Distributed at no cost to farmers, these portfolios are designed with 3 components to confer community, climate, and biodiversity benefits as per VERRA’s CCB standards.
We distribute portfolios free of cost to smallholding farmers.
| Component | Content | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Material | Soil Amendments & Planting Materials • Compost • Bio-inoculants • Green Manuring Seeds • Saplings • Farm Tools • Training Manuals & Videos • Produce Buyback | • Soil Microbiota • Crop Diversity • Farm Productivity |
| Knowledge | SALM Practices & Income Diversification • Agroforestry Systems • Soil Conservation • Mulching • Multi & Cover Cropping • Pest & Disease Management • Compost & Bio-inoculant Usage • Planting Saplings • Harvesting Produce • Market Linkages | • Carbon Sinks • Value Addition • Climate Adaptation |
| Monitoring | Agricultural Data Management & End-to-End Monitoring • Farmer Registration • GPS Farm Tracking • Farm Activity Tracking • Sapling Nursery Audits • Sapling & Planting Audits | • Farmer Support • Produce Traceability • Project Accountability |
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Linking smallholding farmers to value-addition prospects which inspire agricultural diligence and entrepreneurialism was an approach to securing farmer livelihoods spearheaded by Naandi Foundation.
As our mother foundation and primary knowledge partner, Naandi has encouraged us to apply this approach within our operational frameworks.
In doing so, we can enable farmers to enhance the calibre of their assets and fortify the profitability and stability of their smallholding enterprise.
The People we serve.
All images – Graeme Williams
By supporting the formation of a farmers cooperative and securing community-based partnerships and global market opportunities, Naandi supported Araku’s tribal population of smallholding coffee farmers on their journey towards prosperity.
With access to organic certifications, terroir-based regenerative agriculture, and specialty coffee expertise, the tribals refined their skills in cultivating single-origin Arabica coffee of a quality that captured the attention of coffee experts and buyers around the globe.
Today, their exclusive Araku Coffee stands as a luxury, tribal product of India, auctioned internationally at premium prices through the Gems of Araku initiative and sold at high-end Araku eateries in Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Paris. This brand has heightened consumer awareness on the importance of smallholder farmers in recreating regenerative food systems which nourish on all levels.
A Robert S McNamara Fellow of the World Bank, Manoj Kumar is the founding CEO of Naandi Foundation, arguably the largest multi sector non-profit in India. Focused on poverty reduction through initiatives for empowering girls, women and farmers, Naandi in 25 years has impacted over 8 million lives.
Manoj spearheaded the transformation of over 2000 villages in tribal Araku Valley region in the Eastern Ghats combating poverty, Naxal insurgency, and ecological fragility. This two-decade effort resulted in the creation of ARAKU Coffee, a globally acclaimed brand that liberated 300,000 tribal lives out of poverty and put India on the world map of specialty coffee. The ARAKU brand’s retail avatar that started in Paris in 2017 is now in a full fledged restaurant format in Bengaluru and Mumbai.
The regenerative agriculture framework – Arakunomics, eponymously named after the Araku region, has been expanded to rural and urban India. This framework won the world Food Vision Prize in 2020 instituted by the New York headquartered Rockefeller Foundation.
Recognized as a McNulty Laureate and a Fellow of The Aspen Institute, Manoj co-founded Naandi Water, India’s largest community safe drinking water company, in partnership with the Paris headquartered Group Danone.
Manoj was named by the Financial Times, London as one of the 25 people to watch out for in India.
A Masters of Social Work from Delhi University, Rohini Mukherjee has been active in a range of critical roles within Naandi Foundation over the last 17 years. Currently, she leads the Policy and Strategy Cell and in her role as Naandi’s Chief Policy Officer has overseen the successful completion of two large-scale surveys; The HUNGaMA (Hunger and Malnutrition) Survey & the 2018 TAG (Teen Age Girls) Survey.
In her previous roles, she led a large RCT (randomized control trial) to test solutions to neonatal mortality – carried out in 460 villages of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh, in partnership with London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. She was also at the helm of the World Bank-funded action research ‘Bachpan Project’ in backward blocks of Ratlam, Madhya Pradesh, to establish most efficient ways of extending government services for child development to families living below the poverty line.
Before joining Naandi, Rohini worked in rural West Bengal for over 14 years, as a founding member of a grassroots community group. A state level swimmer, Rohini has base level training in classical music and mountaineering.