Overview

Philosophy & Strategy:

NFI has been working to develop a portfolio of grants in the area of livelihood security that can contribute towards improving the livelihoods of the poorest, particularly those marginalized because of gender, social class, remote geographical locations, physical disabilities and other deep rooted constraints. NFI aims to spawn collective and individual livelihoods based on local skills, practices and resources, which over time could be expanded into a business model.  This involves a process of bringing the experience of social development and entrepreneurship closer to the ground and facilitating knowledge building to address issues of income poverty that are deeply intertwined with issues of social exclusion. 

Activities:

NFI gives grants to and supports farm and non-farm based livelihood activities in various areas such as Sikkim, Jammu& Kashmir, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Bihar. This entails a range of approaches and activities which includes:

• Supporting organic farming and eco-tourism in East Sikkim.
• Fodder banks for creating better livelihood options for local tribal and pastoral communities
• Strengthening livelihoods of women agriculturists through the SHG approach.
• Value-chain based livelihood programs for farm-based products like rice, medicinal plants, tomatoes and potatoes.  

Future

The projects supported by NFI’s livelihood programme so far have mostly been pilots that have managed to live up to their promises of bringing the most marginalized under the field of income generation and livelihoods and in improving their social condition. Most of these projects are at an early stage when they need to build and strengthen their institutional and staff capacity, and also need more money for their programmes. Thus, NFI plans to continue investing to build the capacity of these NGOs. It also plans to continue to support a youth and women centric approach.

Program officers: Gitanjali Das ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )
                        Partha P Rudra ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )