Our strategies in networking with government, local, regional, national and international non-profit and research & development organizations in the region and worldwide has evinced interest among other players. Some of our recent projects are outlined below.

[Read an external evaluation of FOOD]

SOCIALLY ORIENTED PROJECTS IN THE INFRASTRUCTURE SECTOR - FOOD has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Limited, (IL&FS), promoted by Public sector Financial Institutions and Banks of India including UTI, Central Bank of India and HDFC among others, with an objective of implementing socially oriented projects in the Infrastructure sector. [more info]

DISINTEGRATING GREEN MANURE FROM PLASTICS AND OTHER NON-DEGRADABLE MATERIALS PILED UP IN MUNICIPALITY COMPOST YARD AND MARKETING THE GREEN COMPOST - FOOD has developed a cost-effective 20 tons output capacity mobile sieving machine that could retrieve 100% of the naturally compost green garbage from the digested dumps with minimum human intervention. This machine consist of conveyers for loading the green compost into the sieving machine on a continuous basis which automatically separates the inert and other non-degradable materials and lumps from the green compost and pushes it through a duct which can either be filled directly into bags or loaded into a lorry with the help of other conveyers. This green compost can be either applied directly or further enriched through other available methods or used for producing vermi-compost by involving self help groups (SHGs). This will not only be a value-added product but also be an income generating activity for hundreds of SHGs as well as unemployed youth, and it can also be a small and medium enterprise for aspiring entrepreneurs. A pilot project has been setup with a machine of 20 ton capacity per day in the compost yard of Tirunelveli City Municipal Corporation and this is functioning to the utmost satisfaction of all concerned. [more info]

PROVIDING BASIC INFRASTRUCTURE TO SMALL FISHERMEN - FOOD in partnership with Charities Aid Foundation India and Give2Asia has established chilling units that are operated and maintained by women self help groups. The project is identifying women self help groups and providing them with chilling containers that can be used by the small fishermen to store their catch once they return back to shore. This enables the fishermen to find a better price for their catch by approaching outside markets without fear of the fish getting spoilt. Further the project acts as a source of income generation for the women self help groups who would charge a nominal amount from the fishermen towards storage of their catch. [more info]

RECONSTRUCTION & RESETTLEMENT FOR THOSE AFFECTED BY TSUNAMI - FOOD in partnership with Give2Asia is constructing integrated housing complexes for those affected by the the tsunami. The complex adopts a modular design with 22 houses, a community hall, a balvadi, a playground, a sanitary complex, solar lighting and 2 shops for establishing micro-enterprise. [more info]

EXPLORING SCOPE FOR NGO PARTICIPATION IN PRIVATIZATION - As a part of the privatization initiatives of the Tirunelveli City Municipal Corporation, FOOD has been entrusted with the responsibility of sanitation and upkeep of the new bus stand premises. While privatization is done by adopting various method this is the first time an NGO has been brought into maintenance of public infrastructure through tender process by fixing specific terms of reference. FOOD opted for the assignment primarily to establish that NGOs are capable of carrying out such activities, exceeding the expectations of the government and officers concerned, and at the same time open out new avenues to development NGOs and induce the NGOs to upgrade themselves to face the new challenge of being complementary to the efforts of the government in providing basic service to the community. [more info]

FOOD has also been entrusted the responsibility of sanitation and upkeep two bus stands and vegetable market in Trichy by the Tamil Nadu Government. [more info]

RASI - FOOD has implemented the Tamilnadu Government's Rural Access to Services through Internet (RASI) project in 3 districts (Kanchipuram, Thoothukudi and Kanyakumari) with plans to extend this to all districts in Tamilnadu. We have provided the technical inputs for establishing district level RASI servers and village level kiosks to inter-network and share information originating from both the government as well as the people. Various services such as villages database, networking with district/block level departments, online petitions submission, SHGs database, progress of work at block level, buy/sell database, PDS allocation, market prices, land records, etc are being offered throughout the district using a sustainable model of engaging the district administration, an NGO and entrepreneurs/self help groups from the district to operate and maintain the RASI network.

HAND OPERATED VACUUM FLUSH SYSTEM FOR PUBLIC TOILETS TO SAVE WATER AND REDUCE AFFLUENT HANDLING - This project introduces a hand operated vacuum pump system attached to the closet for sucking out excreta from public toilets. The vacuum pump system helps to minimize water usage associated with flushing the toilets. At present, due to scarcity of adequate water many public toilets are not maintained properly or even abandoned. Hence the poor living in urban slums resort to open air defecation. As a pilot project, we propose to convert existing closets in 100 sanitary complexes in Tamilnadu (South India) into vacuum flush closets by partnering with the community for operation and maintenance. This project has been selected as finalist in the World Bank Development Marketplace Global Competition 2003 out of more than 2,700 submissions from over 133 countries.

INTER-CITY MARKETING NETWORK OF WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS THROUGH CELL PHONE - FOOD in partnership with infoDev established a closed group communication network for community based women organizations to promote inter-city direct sales of products made by artisans and skilled workers. This is accomplished by providing the community based organizations (CBOs) with communications links by way of cellular phones to enable them to network for marketing their products. We have organized the existing CBOs in such a way that products made by CBOs in one city will be sent to a CBO in another city for marketing in their area. [more info]

E-COMMERCE FOR RURAL ARTISANS - FOOD is implementing a project on using Internet E-commerce as a means to improve the economic condition of the rural women cooperatives and artisans by marketing their products online on the Internet. Towards this end the project has established an online E-commerce site to promote online customer service for sale of products made by rural artisans. Seeing the over all benefit of the program, this project has been adopted by CAPART (Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India) who supported it for a further three years. [more info]

REMOTE AREA NETWORKING - We have establish remote area NGO electronic networking program in partnership with IDRC/Pan Asia Networking to extend networking services for NGOs in remote areas by utilizing wireless packet radio modems. Through this program we have enhanced our backbone to 14 remote areas in the Southern states of India with few in the northern states. This program provides Internet access to number of NGOs working in remote areas to enable them to think globally and act locally. We are proud to state that we are the single largest NGO electronic network in the country. [more info]

INTEGRATED SANITATION PROGRAM - FOOD in partnership with Government of Tamilnadu and World Bank has launched an Integrated Sanitation Program (ISP) to benefit those living below the poverty line in the urban slums. The program provides a package of public sanitation services under one roof. The operationalization of this program relies on the community structure for operation and maintenance. We are coordinating the implementation of this program in 102 municipalities and 5 corporations.

ON LINE NAVIGATIONAL CITY INFORMATION (ASIA-CITY) - FOOD in partnership with 8 R&D institutions and NGOs from the EU and Asia under the Asia IT&C program. The main deliverable of this project is an on-line navigational city information system via web based and wireless GIS technologies.

CONSULTANCY SERVICES TO UNDP/APDIP - FOOD is a consultant to UNDP in the field of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs). FOOD’s ICT jump team has undertaken a needs assessment mission to Andhra Pradesh on behalf of UNDP/APDIP to evaluate and advise on the statewide establishment of village information kiosks. Visit the UNDP India's ICT for poverty eradication for more details.

EVALUATION OF IDRC PROJECTS – FOOD has undertaken project evaluation missions for International Development Research Center (IDRC, Canada) to review projects in India, Mongolia and Malaysia.

CIVIL BRIDGE ROUND TABLE - FOOD has been one of the NGOs to initiate an inter-regional network of NGOs from Asia, Africa and Latin America to form a Civil Bridge Round Table to facilitate the exchange of technologies, experiences and strategies and to link existing initiatives in these countries into a participatory network.

PROGRAMS IN THE FIELD OF PRIMARY EDUCATION – FOOD India is working to upgrade the education standards in rural primary schools. Towards this end we are conducting research and developing innovative audio-visual presentation tools to establish after school activity centers.

SOME OF THE OTHER PROJECTS UNDERTAKEN BY FOOD IN THE PAST INCLUDE - implementation of Urban Basic Services For The Poor (UBSP) in collaboration with UNICEF, implementation of Blood Donor Database electronic network in Sri Lanka in partnership with IDRC and LIONS International, self employment program for educated unemployed youth, vocational training program for women, rural disabled employment and training program, sustainable agricultural development program, rural housing program, village renaissance program, solar kiosks, low-cost housing, vocational training & rehabilitation of handicapped, micro enterprise development program for women, shelter upgradation program for rural poor, construction of irrigation wells for the rural poor, women micro-lending, bio-intensive gardening,

PROJECTS IN THE PIPELINE - Some of the projects we have in the pipeline include: Primary Education through ICT, Offline E-commerce, Fishermen networking through ICT, Electronic network for empowering women Computer education for girls and disabled living in urban slums, Life long learning for the mentally retarded using touch screen computers, Electronic employment exchange for rural land less laborers for poverty alleviation and Community owned & operated health-care delivery system.