Dilasa Sanstha:
Established in 1994, Dilasa Sanstha works in close cooperation with several smaller NGOs in Maharashtra’s Vidarbha and Marathwada regions. It advocates innovative and sustainable irrigation methods to support agricultural development for tribal people and small Indian farmers. The low-cost technical solutions provided by Dilasa help the farmers improve irrigation methods and practice mixed cropping.
Dilasa has also created 7,650 self-help groups (SHGs) for women to encourage organic farming. The organisation also runs a farmers support centre to inform them about various government schemes. So far, over 125,000 people have directly reaped the benefits from its programmes and over 100,000 others have been positively affected. Dilasa help initiate and sustain novel irrigation methods to support agricultural development for tribal people and small farmers in Vidarbha, Maharashtra. The Vidarbha region in Maharashtra has 3.4 million cotton farmers, of whom 95% struggle with debt and an unstable income. In 1995-2010 alone, 50,481 farmer-suicides were reported mainly due to the inability to repay debts, dependence on monsoons, small land-holding, and restricted traditional methods of farming. We provide low-cost technical solutions to address these issues using improved irrigation methods and mixed cropping. We have also created 7650 self-help groups (SHGs) for women and encourage locals to explore natural resources such as organic farming and creating medicine from natural plants. So far over 125,000 people have directly reaped the rewards from our programmes and over 100,000 others have in some way been positively affected. Dilasa is Non-governmental voluntary organization established in 1994. Dilasa works in close cooperation with 125 other smaller NGO’s in Vidarbha and Marathwada regions. It runs Farmers Support Centre spreads information on various government schemes meant for the benefit of the farmers and rural population. Presently Dilasa has been reached out to 95000 beneficiaries from 1260 villages of Maharashtra State.

Swadesh Foundation:
Founded by Ronnie and Zarina Screwvala, Swades Foundation operates with the aim of empowering rural India by incorporating innovative practices and the use of modern technology. Swades aims to empower one million rural Indians every 5-6 years through holistic development with a focus on health, education, water and sanitation, and economic development.
The organisation connects rural communities with corporates, young urban India, not-for-profit organisations and governments, enabling marginalised communities to improve their lives. Their 1,600 member strong team includes 1,300 community volunteers and 300 full-time staff of specialists and professionals working at the grassroots level. The focus here is on bringing more cultivable land under assured irrigation, thus enabling farmers to sow economically viable crops like vegetables in rabi season, and increasing productivity and survival percentage of existing and recently planted orchards. These initiatives are bolstered by exposure visits for new adoptees and imparting technical knowledge by agri domain experts which aids in augmenting income levels of farmers who are otherwise largely dependent on growing rainfed paddy in the kharif season.
Off-farm activities include dairy, goat rearing, fishing and poultry. Dairy is introduced to develop an ecosystem around dairy farming and promote dairy as a sustainable livelihood option, which creates a steady revenue stream throughout the year for households. It also includes providing sustainability options to farmers like hydroponic fodder, azolla, mineral mixture, nutrition management and advisory services coupled with market linkages.Poultry is tailor made for the weaker sections of the community who are unable to adopt other economic development programmes. It provides a regular revenue and healthy protein source for the community. The focus here is on women SHGs and is helping in developing their entrepreneur skills. Goat rearing as a livelihood option is being adopted mainly by the tribal community, women lead households and poorest of poor sections of the society. Swades has helped in introduction of improved breeds of goat, veterinary support and health advisory to strengthen and make this programme sustainable.

Vrutti:
Active for over 23 years, Vrutti has significantly improved the lives and livelihoods of over one million poor and marginalised individuals and households. Vrutti’s efforts are directed towards improving people’s well-being through knowledge, innovation and transformative actions. It adopts an ecosystem approach to integrate and deliver end-to-end services that empower small producers to become profitable and escape poverty.
Vrutti’s flagship model of ‘3Fold’ covers over 40,000 smallholder Indian farmers, enabling them to access multiple services (farm, financing, market, institutions) and become independent and resilient. Its portfolio also includes similar models for women-owned businesses, marine fisherfolk, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and people in special circumstances like sex workers and transgender persons. rutti is a not for profit organization registered under the Karnataka State Societies Registration Act 1960 . We have been working in the social impact space for over 23 years as part of the Catalyst Group and have made a difference to the lives and livelihoods of over a million poor and marginalized individuals and households. We work through an ecosystem approach, integrating and delivering end to end services that empower small producers graduate out of poverty and uncertainty and become three times more profitable.
Vrutti was ideated in 2002 by two graduates from the Institute of Rural Management Anand We are committed to find solutions to end poverty, marginalisation and create wealth and build resilience for small producers. As social entrepreneurs, we pursue problem solving with entrepreneurial zeal, business acumen, courage to innovate, and consistently challenge traditional practices. To us, scale is about reach and impact at the community – the depth and breadth of our contributions to change (at individual producer, ecosystem and national levels) and sustainability of benefits. Our solutions are modelled to take us to the scale. We are not satisfied with localised and limited interventions. We therefore ‘model’ our approaches, ‘cost’ them, and ‘integrate’ them to be adopted by communities or market or public policy. We are passionate about unbiased measurement, self-critique and learning. We work through result-based planning tools, performance measurement metrics, impact and value for money assessments and use technology as augmenter.