About CBM-SA:
Community-based Biodiversity Management South Asia (CBM-SA) is a regional programme initiated in five South Asian countries, namely Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Srilanka, and Tibet, China. Altogether eleven organizations working in the field of biodiversity conservation and utilization are collaborating in this programme.
The idea of initiating the regional programme was to build on country experiences and interest, and create synergy and promote collective action for sustainable conservation and utilization for biodiversity for livelihoods of small and resource poor farmers of South Asia.
The long-term goal of the CBM-SA programme is to enhance livelihoods and wellbeing of farming communities of South Asia through increased food and nutrition security and climate change resilience achieved by means of conservation and sustainable management of the biological resources. The major objectives of the programme are:
to increase food, nutrition, income of farming communities, especially poor and marginalized groups, through conservation and sustainable use of genetic resources, and enhanced climate change resilience
to strengthen capacity of farming communities to conserve, utilize and benefit from their genetic resources through increased institutional capacity, appropriate policy and legal measures, and protection of farmers’ rights.
About CBM-INDIA:
CBM-India Programme has six partner organizations from different states of India, these include: Keystone Foundation (Tamil Nadu),
Satvik (Gujarat),
BAIF-MITTRA (Maharashtra),
AGRAGAMEE (Orissa),
ANTHRA (Andhra Pradesh),
Green Foundation (Karnataka).
The partner organizations represent different ecosystems to bring diversity of the area as a key factor for conservation. ANTHRA is the key partner representing experience in conservation of animal genetic resources by sharing livestock-based CBM. Green foundation is co-ordinating the plant-based CBM and also the CBM-SA India programme.
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| Keystone Foundation - www.keystone-foundation.org |
Keystone Foundation is engaged in the land development of the Nilgiris to improve the quality of life, livelihood, and environment of the indigenous communities using eco-development approaches. The aim is food sovereignty, land retrieval and conservation through traditional and organic agricultural practices, soil and moisture conservation, nursery raising, seed banks and revolving funds for land development.
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| BAIF-MITTRA - www.mittra.org |
BAIF-MITTRA seeks to create opportunities for gainful employment for rural families in Maharashtra, especially disadvantaged families by promoting livestock, land and watershed development. It is engaged in promotion of organic farming techniques, conservation of local varieties, kitchen gardens, field-based training and demonstration centers, capacity building of field resource persons, and documentation of people’s knowledge.
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| GREEN Foundation - www.greenconserve.com |
| GREEN Foundation s working with disadvantaged groups of small and marginal farmers, tribals and dalits, especially women in the semi-arid regions of South India, to conserve, promote and revive lost agro biodiversity. Its initiatives like on-farm conservation and sustainable agriculture led to multi-stakeholder partnerships among farmers, scientists and consumers in deploying traditional forms of biodiversity conservation and consumption patterns that are constantly validated and improved through scientific research. It establishes seed banks and promotes integrated agricultural practices as integral aspects of food sovereignty and CBM.
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| AGRAGAMEE - www.agragamee.org |
AGRAGAMEE works with tribal farmers in Orissa to improve their livelihood system by initiating a process for rebuilding of degraded tribal eco-systems by helping them preserve crop bio-diversity and traditional practices. Its interventions include experiments with farmers to introduce improved techniques for soil fertility management with detailed process and output recording; helping farmers develop linkages with research institutions and NGOs through training and exposure. This has increased interest in local varieties, mixed cropping, low external input sustainable agriculture (LEISA).
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| ANTHRA - www.anthra.org |
ANTHRA works with traditional pastoralists and marginalised small-holder farming communities in the semi-arid, chronically drought-prone tract of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh. These communities historically practiced rainfed-agriculture cultivating a multitude of dry land millets and cereals, pulses, oilseeds, leafy vegetables; along with rearing an equal diversity of livestock and poultry. ANTHRA is mobilising and organizing these communities into village groups and then brings them onto a common platform to address their common concern and strengthen indigenous knowledge and livestock-based livelihoods.
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| Satvik |
Satvik is working with farmers in the Kutch area of Gujarat to mainstream ecologically sound farming practices. Kutch is renowned for its disease and drought tolerant seed varieties with unique qualities of color, taste, lustre, nutritional values, maturity duration. Satvik undertook a vast survey to collect traditional seeds of commonly grown crops and a descriptor of characters of each variety as explained by their growers was prepared.
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