Journey so far
Holistic approach to empowering communitiesJourney so far
13th Feb 1996 - GREEN Foundation was registered
On 13th February 1996, Genetic Resource, Ecology, Energy and Nutrition (GREEN) Foundation was registered as a public charitable trust with the no. 906-95-96. From its very beginning, the Foundation has always used a holistic approach to empowering communities. Our activities centred on seed production, distribution and storage activities to enrich biodiversity through in-situ conservation. Varietal performance or ‘seed trials’ were conducted on farms to understand indigenous varieties and farmers’ response to them. We also initiated the set up of community farms with the aim of providing the most disadvantaged community members access to nutritious food. Seed fares were held to encourage community interaction and information exchange.
Feb of 1998 : ‘The COMPAS Project’ was officially launched
2001: First Community Seed Bank (CSB) was established
2002: CSBs had evolved into a Community Seed Bank Network (CSBN)
Agroforestry and soil conservation efforts were also started in this year, with over 3000 trees of various forest species being planted. Since then, GREEN has intensified its efforts to improve the ecology of communities, introducing methods such as silt application, bund planting, nursery development etc to strengthen the biodiversity of its project areas.
2004: GREEN was awarded the ‘Equator Initiative Prize’
2005: A community radio programme was developed
Certification in organic farming for interested farmers was also begun in this year. GREEN engaged a certifying agency to train farmers and staff in organic farming guidelines on inspection and certification.
2006: our network had spread to 4 states of South India including Karnataka
Janadhanya, a farmers’ society, was also established in this year. Among its many objectives, this initiative also strengthened the movement for organic and sustainable agriculture at a grassroots level.
2007: Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) of farmer certification was begun
2009: GREEN consolidated its multi-pronged approach through the project ‘Community Based Biodiveristy Management
Present day
currently, we are working with more than 2400 small scale and marginal farmers around Karnataka, empowering them to attain food and economic security. More than 26 years after we were first established, we are still committed to our vision of a well-preserved, diverse ecosystem that will sustain the rural livelihoods of the present generation without eroding the resource base of the future.