Anant Foundation for Innovation and Social Inclusion

The need of the hour is to reboot the rural economy, generate local livelihoods and create a local self-sufficient sustainable model in the shortest possible time to tide over this crisis and the nest way is to leverage Agriculture and Agro processing to do it. And for this very reason, the idea of A•bani was born. *A•bani* which means "Of the Farm" in the Garo language and "Earth" in Sanskrit, is aptly named to represent the community that is closest to Nature - our farmers, and also the organic produce that the state of Meghalaya is known for. A few months ago, when the Covid – 19 crisis hit the world, it trickled into our cities, towns, villages and our homes. Everyone has been

impacted in one way or another and we continue to see its devastating effects even today. Our governments and non-government organizations, including concerned individuals have joined hands to fight this global disaster in their individual capacities and to ensure that no one is left behind in the efforts to help those affected.

In contribution to the collective efforts, this initiative has been launched to help the farmers’ community of Meghalaya, especially those in interior villages, whose livelihoods depend on the sale of their produces in the markets. With the lockdown on all activities including markets, the farmers face the dangers of going into huge losses and losing their main source of income. This initiative has been designed to not only ensure that fresh farm produces do not go to waste for lack of markets and that the farmers are not exploited especially during the Covid-19 crisis, but also to create livelihoods related to the local agro-businesses. This includes non-farming jobs opportunities such as food processing and packaging, transportation and logistics, media and marketing among others. Keeping in mind that Meghalaya has one of the largest numbers of unemployed youth in the country, this initiative strives to transform the community and create a big impact by acknowledging the inter-dependent collective of all members of the community through its various activities.

 Anant Foundation for Innovation and Social Inclusion (AFISI) was founded in 2017 by Retd Major Ajit Singh, who is also the Founder MD of Anant Learning and Development Pvt Ltd. Major Ajit Singh, is an ex- Army Officer and is one of the few Ashoka Fellows in India. He is a veteran of Kargil war. Ajit opted out for early retirement and left the Indian Army in 2007 after completing 12 years of service. He came to Bangalore and built an offbeat adventure and travel company called the Nomads. He later joined BASIX Academy for Building Lifelong Employability (B-ABLE) India, the skill building arm of BASIX India, founded by Senior Ashoka Fellow, Vijay Mahajan. Over the years, he has studied the skill development ecosystem to identify where the gaps in the system were and engaged with multiple organisations/NGOs as a consultant. He has been instrumental in transforming the skill development processes in many states. His courageous handling of the grass-root challenges (corruption, ignorance and apathy) in skill development has helped many state governments in this field. His exceptional work in this area helped him to be selected by Ashoka Foundation, USA, to be one of the few Ashoka Fellows in the country. The Anant Foundation is focused on social innovations to ensure an inclusive growth in a progressive society. The multi-dimensional process facilitates full and active participation of every member of the society in all aspects of life, including civic, social, economic, and political activities, as well as participation in decision-making processes. Anant Foundation was started to explore innovative ideas, implementing and testing them and coming up with out-of-the-box solutions to challenge the common narrative. AFISI looks at a positive framework change with a long, sustainable and transformative impact on the society. Since its incorporation in 2016, Anant Foundation for Innovation and Social Inclusion (AFISI) has been engaged in multiple activities to promote education and livelihoods amongst its focus group. AFISI believes that a true empowerment of individuals in the community can only be achieved through quality education, imparting vocational skills and facilitating meaningful livelihoods both in the formal and informal sectors. 

Jemimah Marak who is Head of Programmes with AFISI, is a trained teacher and counselling psychologist with over 12 years of experience of working with children. She is also the founder of ‘The 100 Story House,’ a children’s library in Tura, Meghalaya. She was the consultant Education Specialist for an ADB project that focused on Education and Livelihood in Meghalaya, during which time she was able to tour the breadth and length of the state connecting with communities and schools. She is one of the key drivers of the LPC project, Meghalaya and subsequently the A•bani initiative; networking with the local farmers from across the state. 

Centre for Aquatic Livelihoods - Jaljeevika: CAL-JALJEEVIKA was founded in 2013. They work with vision to create livelihood model based on existing waterbodies, ponds through the layering of activities related to fisheries and aquaculture. during last 6 years, organisation help to regain fisheries-based livelihood for more than 25000 fish farmers including more than 4000 women fish farmers across States like Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharastra, Jharkhand and Bihar. Jaljeevika believes in open source technology model to install affordable technologies at farmers end so that they use it for enhancing production and productivity. The founder of Jaljeevika is Mr Neelkanth Mishra, is an Ashoka Fellow since 2017. He has worked at the grassroots in 2001, during the Right to Food movement. This was his first grassroots experience in advocacy, where he witnessed tribal farmers failing to access their rightful lands due to lack of knowledge of the law and how to exercise the right. It was only in 2006, when he joined Oxfam, that he discovered the potential of inland fisheries to upscale the livelihood of small and marginal farmers. He led Oxfam’s livelihood program in Madhya Pradesh (MP) for 4 years, where he noticed early on the abuses farmers faced with local contractors and middlemen. Building on his earlier experience in the Right to Food movement, Neelkanth advocated for the rights of the fishing community over shared water resources. He has now shifted his strategy to building capacity at the ecosystem level and using market forces to accelerate the growth and development of these communities. 

Australian Dairy Authority Consortium (ADAC): The ADAC is a consortium of experienced dairy professionals specifically formed to support sustainable dairy development activities in rural India through local partnerships led by Dr Karensa Menzies. With a common interest in equality and a holistic approach to rural community and dairy development, the collective expertise and experience of ADAC members spans the dairy supply chain. The primary purpose of ADAC is to strengthen Karensa’s capacity to develop and strengthen local Indian knowledge, capability (skill) and networks in contemporary dairy production practices for a range of species by providing a multi-skilled sounding board and extended network of resources as required. 

Hill Farmers’ Union (HFU) Shillong: Estd in 1992, HFU is a farmer’s union society registered in Shillong, Meghalaya, functioning as an integrated entity comprising the various spheres of development in agriculture, horticulture, livestock and minor irrigation. The aim of HFU is to attain food security and sustainable growth by increasing production of food grains and improving productivity and promote commercial agriculture through low volume high value crops for the farmers of Meghalaya and later expand globally. HFU is founded and headed by its dynamic president, Mr. Commander Shangpliang and general secretary, Mr Allfondbirth Kharsyntiew.