Institute for Sustainable Livelihoods and Development About BISLD BAIF Institute for Sustainable Livelihoods and Development (BISLD), is a not-forprofit Organisation registered under Section 8 (formerly Section 25) of the Companies Act, 1956 and formally established on April 16 th, 2012. BISLD is closely associated with BAIF Development Research Foundation, a reputed Non- Government Organisation founded in 1967 by Dr. Manibhai Desai, a disciple of Mahatma Gandhi. Mission The Mission of BISLD is to create opportunities of gainful selfemployment for the rural families, especially disadvantaged sections, ensuring sustainable livelihood, enriched environment, improved quality of life and good human values. This is being achieved through effective use of local resources, extension of appropriate technologies and upgradation of skills and capabilities with community participation. BISLD is a nonpolitical, secular and professionally managed organisation. Outreach The programmes of BISLD are being implemented across 13 states of India through a team of senior development professionals and field implementation staff. The operations are spread over the following Regions: 1. Northern Region Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan 2. Eastern Region Jharkhand, Bihar, Odisha and Chhattisgarh 3. Western Region Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh 4. Southern Region Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka The Regional Headquarters are located at Allahabad (North), Hyderabad (South), Ranchi (East) and Nashik (West). The multidisciplinary programmes of BISLD and its Associate Organisations are spread across 250 districts reaching out to over 4 million families. 1
Programmes BISLD is committed to promote sustainable livelihood of the rural poor. With an innovative and integrated approach to rural development and environmental conservation, the flexibility of the programmes enable BISLD to serve the most disadvantaged by addressing the specific needs of each family, village and local area. Community participation is the foundation of all the programmes. The following programmes are being implemented: Livestock Development: The Dairy Development Programme aims at improving the livestock breed through artificial insemination for enhanced production. Promotion of goat husbandry and backyard poultry for landless, small and marginal farmers is another activity. The key components are: Genetic improvement of livestock through artificial insemination centres, each catering to a cluster of about 12-15 villages Preventive health care and first aid services Promotion of fodder production and feed management Facilitation for developing value chains for both dairy and goat development programmes Natural Resource Management (NRM): Sustainable management of natural resources for sustainable development of community and ecosystem is the key aspect in this programme. The projects under NRM include: Watershed Development Landscape Approach for resource management through convergence of resources 2
Region-specific innovative approaches for water resource management arid, semi-arid, hill, ravine, Western Ghats, rain-rich areas Promotion of efficient water use technologies Silvipasture for conservation of wastelands and production of fodder Promotion of non-conventional energy such as solar and bio-energy Afforestation, Industrial Greenbelt Development, Environmental Awareness Forest-based livelihood Climate change adaptation and mitigation Climate-Resilience F arming: Based on the resource base of the families and the area, the projects are designed to create a source of sustainable livelihood in the farm. The projects are mainly implemented in the tribal and resource poor areas. The main projects include: Wadi (Agri-horti-forestry based livelihood) Improved agriculture practices for enhanced production and income Sustainable Multi-species Agricultural Resource-use Trials (SMART) for diversified and intensive farming in small plots Climate smart agriculture Organic farming Sericulture Agri-business through local people s organizations Quality of Life: This programme aims at improving the quality of life of the participant families through preventative health measures and development initiatives as given below: Clean drinking water supply, sanitation, and hygiene Mother and child health care Empowerment of tribal healers Agriculture-nutrition and nutrition supplementation Promotion of backyard gardens for better family nutrition Literacy and education Women Empowerment through Promotion of Self Help Groups of Women Drudgery reduction technologies 3
Empowerment of women through micro-enterprises Linkages for micro-finance Skill Development and Empowerment: Community empowerment, promotion of leadership among community members and skill development for selfemployment are the key measures. The important activities include the following: Awareness generation on overall development and entitlements Promotion of People s Institutions for continued and sustainable development Skill development of rural youth in various farm-based and non-farm vocations Programme Impact A family with three milch animals earns an income of Rs. 60,000-75,000 per annum while a tribal family through Wadi (Agrihorti-forestry based livelihood) is able to earn Rs. 40,000-55,000 per year and come out of poverty. With the increase in cropping area by 20-30%, the watershed development programme generates yearround employment even for landless and increase in crop production by 35-60%. The quality of life of the community especially of women and children has increased with various health measures and development initiatives. 4
The Board of Directors of BISLD comprises of renowned professionals from the development and corporate sectors. Board of Directors Mr. Hrishikesh A. Mafatlal, Chairman Mr. Kishor A. Chaukar, Director Mr. Deepak C. Mehta, Director Dr. Narayan G. Hegde, Director Mr. Girish G. Sohani, Managing Director Associate Organisations BISLD works in close association with BAIF Development Research Foundation and implements various field programmes on Rural Development. BISLD also works in close cooperation with other Organisations promoted by BAIF in various states of operation. BAIF Development Research Foundation, Pune BAIF Institute for Rural Development - Uttar Pradesh (BIRD-UP), Allahabad BAIF Institute for Rural Vocations and Advancement (BIRVA), Ranchi Maharashtra Institute of Technology Transfer for Rural Areas (MITTRA), Nashik BAIF Institute for Rural Development (BIRD - Hyderabad) Rajasthan Rural Institute of Development Management (RRIDMA), Udaipur Gujarat Rural Institute for Socio-Economic Reconstruction, Vadodara (GRISERV), Gujarat Dharampur Utthan Vahini, Vansda (DHRUVA), Gujarat Society for Promotion of Eco-friendly Sustainable Development (SPESD), Bhopal BAIF Institute for Rural Development - Karnataka (BIRD-K), Tiptur The major sponsors of BISLD Programmes include Corporate Houses and Foundations, Farmers Cooperatives and Government Departments. Head Office: BAIF Institute for Sustainable Livelihoods and Development (BISLD) NH 4, Dr. Manibhai Desai Nagar, Warje, Pune 411058 Phone No. 91-20-25231661-8 Fax: 91-20-25231662 E-mail: bisld@baif.org.in 5