Twenty three years of delivery across ten states and more. Skills and enterprise programmes already completed, six integrated production clusters under setup, and a restoration mission running alongside both. Farmer institutions own the assets. Every hectare and every tonne carries a record.
Where the work sits
School of Livelihood and Rural Development works in places where household income and ecological recovery have to be solved together. Our sites sit in tribal districts, forest fringe villages, eco-sensitive zones, border blocks and hill terrain. The land in these places is under pressure and the household has few options, so a plan built only for income fails the land, and a plan built only for the land fails the family.
The organisation has worked through community and farmer institutions since 2003. Self Help Groups, artisan clusters, Farmer Producer Companies and cooperative societies own the assets, operate the units and hold the market relationships. SLRD prepares the plan, brings the technology partners, arranges the finance route and stays with the institution for the long term.
Delivered work is concentrated in Meghalaya and Madhya Pradesh. Current build out runs across Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, with programme reach into Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, Sikkim and the wider North East.
What we have already delivered
Skills, enterprise and restoration programmes completed for state governments, the Asian Development Bank and border area development agencies. Nine programmes, close to 3,000 people trained and placed into work or enterprise, across textiles, solar energy, handicraft, handloom, herbal products, waste recycling and ecological restoration. Details sit on the regional pages.
One architecture, adapted to each place
Current work follows a single shape. A processing unit sits at the centre. Cultivation, plantation and restoration blocks surround the unit and supply raw material. A farmer institution owns and runs both. A digital record layer sits underneath, tracking crop cycles, plant operations, product movement and carbon.
The parts change with the geography. In Assam and Nagaland the feedstock is cultivated bamboo. In Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan the feedstock is invasive biomass, mainly Prosopis juliflora and lantana, removed under departmental supervision and replaced with native species. In Meghalaya the entry points are a nursery, a dehydration line, fisheries and solar energy. Sustainability and eco conservation run through every version.
What sits inside one location
Our intervention model
A sequence rather than a menu. Each stage carries the next.
- Community and farmer institution building
- Natural resource and livelihood assessment
- Sustainable production
- Technology and infrastructure
- Value addition and processing
- Renewable energy and circular economy
- Market and buyer linkages
- Finance and institutional convergence
- Monitoring, climate impact and scale
Choose a region
Where we are assessing next
Pre-feasibility is complete for a replicable 3 tonne per day biochar and biofertiliser unit, expandable to 15 tonnes a day, across four tribal districts in Odisha, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and Jharkhand. The model runs on low grade bamboo, agricultural residue, pruning material, invasive vegetation and eligible wood processing residue rather than harvested forest trees. Status: assessment completed, project development in process.
Who delivers
- School of Livelihood and Rural Development implements the programme, mobilises the community, builds the institution, runs restoration, nurseries and watershed work, and delivers training.
- YesEarth Eco Consulting handles environmental safeguards, sustainability, carbon project development and the digital monitoring and verification platform.
- Vistaar Agrotech supplies and integrates processing technology for biochar, biofertiliser, essential oil, dehydration and solar systems.
- Global Association of MSMEs leads enterprise development and market access through the sector programmes for agriculture, fisheries, handicraft, tourism and the circular economy.
- Partner institutions own the assets, employ the operating team and hold the customer relationships.
Rules we hold to
- No forest tree is cut for feedstock. Permitted material is cultivated bamboo, invasive species biomass, sawmill and wood processing waste, and agricultural and agroforestry residue including pruning.
- The community or farmer institution owns the asset. SLRD and technical partners support, and do not hold the plant.
- Restoration is planned with production, on the same site, in the same budget.
- Every claim carries a record, open to verification.
- Nothing is published as delivered until the field confirms delivery.
Institutional partners
ICAR-ATARI, ICAR-NEH, ICAR-KVK Umiam, the ICAR Agribusiness Incubation Centre, Assam Agricultural University, CSIR-CIMAP, the National Institute of Solar Energy, the National Institute of Design Ahmedabad, NIFT, the National Cadet Corps, UNDP, TERI, the Asian Development Bank, the Pollution Control Board Assam, the Assam Science Technology and Environment Council, SELCO Foundation, Meghalaya Rural Bank, ATMA and AIIMS Bhopal.
Work with us
SLRD works with state departments, central agencies, multilateral funders, banks, CSR teams and research institutions. If you are planning work in any of these geographies, write to us with what you want to achieve and where. Project reports, cost detail and technical documentation follow on request.