Part 2: Split, Grow, Evolve
Two more decisions that changed the course of our work in 2021–22.
In Part 1, we wrote about how our urban initiatives realigned over the past year. In this post, we will discuss how the other initiatives changed course.
Food Futures Initiative
Food Futures is another of our initiatives that evolved considerably this year. This initiative initially focused purely on demand-side interventions–changing how consumers view and consume food–hence food futures. Our initial focus was on promoting indigenous foods in tourism-dominant landscapes.
We shifted our focus from demand-side (consumption) to supply-side (production) interventions for two reasons: Covid-19 decimated the tourism industry and we were unable to make any progress on that front. We also realised that our approach was not systemic and we would not be able to influence more than a few dozen farming households with the approach we were taking.
For any real transformation of food systems, the biggest bottleneck was making farming sustainable. Because water and soil are limiting resources, we focused on better management of irrigation water and restoration of degraded farmland.
A frequent question we encountered from changemaker organisations in the field was ‘what works where’ — how to design solutions that are appropriate for the local landscape. We began to delve deeper into solutions to overcome the data and knowledge gaps, and specifically how digital tools can help. Jaltol–an accounting tool for easy water balance estimation–is one such tool.
As we began to focus on the data and knowledge bottlenecks, our work moved away from direct fieldwork. The Food Futures initiative ended up getting split into two.
Our knowledge and data work, including Jaltol, has moved to the Research and Development team, while engagement with on-the-ground changemakers on restoring degraded agricultural land and better on-farm water management now sits within the Farms and Forests initiative.
Farms and Forests Initiative (previously Food Futures and Invasive Species)
Over 40% of Indian forests have been taken over by the invasive weed, Lantana camara, substantially reducing biodiversity. ATREE set up the Lantana Craft Centre in 2003 to focus on using lantana craft as a livelihood source for the indigenous community. CSEI’s Invasive Species Initiative took this legacy forward by thinking of lantana removal and restoration at scale. We focused on building market linkages for lantana products, brought in new innovations through our Designer in Residence program and upskilled lantana artisans through training.
It soon became clear that if the goal was to restore lantana-infested landscapes at scale (~3 crore acres), we needed to go from a livelihood-generation approach to a landscape-restoration approach. To scale, we had to move from artisanal to commercial use of lantana where the whole plant could get used in much larger quantities.
Read | Lantana Removal: Missing the Wood for the Trees
We have not discarded the livelihood generation approach. In fact, with the restoration approach, will create more livelihood opportunities. We collaborated with organisations like Indian Plywood Industries Research & Training Institute (IPIRTI), Institute of Wood Science and Technology (IWST) and BioTherm Industries to prototype a range of biocomposite construction materials and run successful gasification trials with lantana.
One learning for us has been around the critical role an enabling policy plays. Without enabling policies, we cannot take lantana out of the forest. A second learning has been that ecologists (even those within ATREE) differ considerably in their positions on how the lantana problem should be tackled.
Read | The Case for Bioenergy Clusters
Given this uncertain policy environment and the unsettled science, we are currently limiting our role to showing proof of concepts for lantana removal/restoration at scales of 50–250 acres. However, we plan to convene experts to come to consensus on best practices, create the business case to show financial feasibility for lantana removal and restoration, and work with incubators/accelerators to help create more restoration companies across India that could apply for government tenders.
The final big change at CSEI has been the move to a ‘matrix’ structure. The two vertical initiatives — Cities and Towns and Farms and Forests — are now supported by two horizontal initiatives — Research and Development and Community Building.
Research and Development
The Research and Development team focuses on second-degree impact on broader ecosystems that could lie outside CSEI’s immediate scope.
It has two objectives. On one hand, it acts as an internal service provider to our two initiatives (Farms and Forests and Cities and Towns) by answering specific questions for them, e.g. how much carbon might be sequestered or water saved if a specific approach is adopted, or what tools or standards exist, or whether a certain solution is actually effective.
This team also generates knowledge products that move forward the conversation in the sector as a whole. This may include creating data products, capacity building programmes or tools. To achieve this, the team will collaborate closely with other knowledge players including universities, start-ups, think-tanks and research and development teams of companies.
Community Building
As an impact ecosystem builder, we cannot not afford to engage in unidirectional communication. Our communication needs to speak out but also listen in.
We need to listen, connect and build consensus across key actors through events, trainings and workshops. Across the initiatives, we have to create an engaged community of stakeholders to help move our collective goals forward. Additionally, there is a need to communicate our work effectively to engage current and potential partners/donors. We will do this using blog posts, media articles, graphic and video content through the website and our social media channels.
Read | Flexing our Writing Muscle in 2021
The community building team at CSEI enables communication to help initiatives focus on engaging their core communities. We engage with communities of practice to build a network that amplifies messages, shares best practices and builds common resources. To achieve impact, we document the present, trace our progress, synthesise our learnings and identify trends over time.
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To collaborate with us, write to csei.collab@atree.org. We would love to hear from you.
