We place schools and communities first in everything that we do. When youth, students, and women empower themselves, they empower the communities around them as well.
Farm Preneur
We work with middle-school students to set up Nutrition Gardens in their schools, and support their process of learning self-sustaining and organic methods of growing their own food, eating healthy and learning about nutrition, and becoming entrepreneurs.
The Nutrition Gardens function as Science and Mathematics laboratories. Students observe and experiment with the scientific theories that they learn about in their textbooks. They observe different kinds of insects, bugs, and earth worms, and understand the manner by which they assist the growth of the plants. Additionally, students are responsible for creating raised soil beds for the plants. The creation of these beds requires an understanding of geometry – specifically concepts of shapes, area, and volume are employed.
By the time the garden is ready for harvest, students are equipped with an understanding of and knowledge regarding the nutrient content of the fruit and vegetables that they have cultivated. These same fruit and vegetables are then used in the preparation of the midday meal at the school. Students prepare and sell vermi-compost, vermi-wash, and bio-pesticides to the community and earn profits. They also gain an income from the vegetables supplied for the midday meal.
MEASURING IMPACT
We collaborate with Ashoka: Innovators for the Public, and the SwissRe foundation to conduct Health and Nutrition Surveys in schools that have implemented the farm-preneur programme. We survey nutritional levels of the participating school-children with the aim of identifying influencing factors, and improving them. Thus we are able to empirically assess and measure the changes that our programme aims to bring about.
Mother’s Group Projects
Our Nutrition Garden’s focus primarily on increasing nutrition levels of children who are engaged with the program. We understand that for impactful and continued change, nutritional awareness needs to be present within homes as well as in schools. As such we work with Mother’s groups to enable the setting up of Nutrition Gardens in homes. We emphasise the importance of high nutrition levels, with a special focus on women and children.
We provide training to women householders in vermi-compost preparation. Whilst this is prepared initially for the Nutrition Gardens at home, women later begin to produce the compost commercially.
Solve Ninjas
We collaborate with an organisation called Reap Benefit to train middle-school students in the process of “Discover”, “Investigate”, “Solve and Share” – discover civic problems around them, investigate them, and find possible solutions, which we support them in implementing. In this way we support them in their journey to become Solve Ninjas. Solve Ninjas understand the need to take responsibility for the environment around them, and be change-makers in their schools, and their communities.
Jagrik
The aim behind the Jagrik Programme is to ensure that the youth of today become socially aware and responsible citizens. Farm2Food Foundation collaborates with ComMunity – the Youth Collective to implement a programme called Samvidhan LIVE – the Jagrik Project in the Jorhat and Golaghat districts of Assam.
The Jagrik Project is aimed at building young people’s capacities for meeting challenges as they refl-act (reflect + act) in today’s world. Designed in the format of a real-life simulation, the project has created a platform for young people to live the ground realities of the Indian Constitution – be aware of their fundamental rights, understand the significance of their fundamental duties, and imbibe the values enshrined in the document. Through this public initiative, young people will experience the manner by which the rights and duties enshrined in the Constitution are being enacted and lived, and have a platform to report and speak about their experiences.
The India Project: Say No to Discrimination
Farm2Food Foundation is collaborating with Reachout Foundation to help children develop a more inclusive attitude towards the community through this project. The most critical stake holders in fighting discrimination are young minds who have the potential of being nurtured and honed to reap the desired results in fighting discrimination and doing away with stereotypes effectively. The Indian Project:Say No to Discrimination is a pilot project started by Reachout Foundation to address the issue of diversity and discrimination . Through this project the Foundation is hoping to create awareness amongst educators, students and parents about the stereotypical notions, regressive belief systems and prejudices that lead to discrimination. The long distance exchange program amongst children in the four states: Assam, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Delhi is an attempt to create a human connect amongst children through the age old forgotten art of letter writing and sending messages across to each other through cards. Farm2Food Foundation is happy to collaborate with reach out foundation in chasing this noble dream in Assam. This activity not only aims to connect children in different parts of the country, it also intends giving real time education about these places, cultures, people, the urban-rural diversity and so on which is not a part of the curriculum. It is an attempt to open up minds of the children and widening their horizons for them to accept the rich diversity of India, and to realize that it adds to the strength of the country.
Angela Marti memorial fund
Girls Scholarship and Library Renovation
The Angela Marti Memorial Fund is a scholarship program envisioned by the late Ms. Angela Marti in collaboration with the SwissRe Foundation. The scholarship benefits female students hailing from the tea garden areas of Assam to pursue higher education. It also helps build and enhance libraries in schools in these areas.
The Farm2Food Foundation is responsible for helping to deliver this dream.
Nutrition Education
(game based experiential engagement with young people & mother’s group)
We provide students with the knowledge of nutrition education through game based experiential learnings. The mother’s group is also approached with the same approach which makes nutrition education easier and more accessible for them.
Active Citizenship Projects with Young People
(togetherness table, Jagrik, Fraternity lab, Samjho Toh, Kyu Ki!, Poster making completion)
They are run in partnership with Commutiny Youth Collective. Through these projects we create enabling spaces for young people to develop their agencies to become leaders for self and social transformation.
Mobile Science Lab
Library Project
The Library project is designed to increase the fascinations of the students for reading books and stories. This project also aims to build the literacy skills and to ensure that young people are performing well in their academics. Many students from rural govt. schools have benefitted from this project. This project has two parts a) Upgradation of the existing libraries in the government schools & b) Mobile reading & learning sessions. Age and grade appropriate books are distributed as a part of this project in many schools.
Vaccination drive & Poster making project
(led by youth)
The vaccination drive was started as a response to the pandemic and the low percentage of vaccination in Assam. Amidst the growing crisis, we ensured that every individual who is eligible for vaccination received both their doses and also people who are eligible for the booster also got them. It is a joint venture of the National Health Mission and farm 2 Food Foundation. The poster making session is an awareness drive of COVID 19 pandemic amongst the students and the community.
Research and documentation:
Constantly collected data of farmers, children and community on their after effects of COVID.
Apart from food relief distribution we have also distributed medical equipments like oxygen concentrator, oxygen cylinder, oxy meters, P.P.E kits, thermometers etc. The vaccination drive is conducted in response to the increasing rate of different variants of the COVID 19 virus in the rural areas of Assam. Supporting the local admin in vaccination drive for COVID vaccine to safeguard the health of agri -entrepreneurs. Through this project we created awareness amongst the people about the need of the vaccination for the pandemic and these projects were led by the youth workers of the community.
Responses to Emergency
As a part of our response to emergency we conducted relief works for the management of flood & covid 19 disaster. We distributed relief items to the communities of the rural areas of both the districts of Jorhat & Golaghat. During the twin tragedy of COVID & flood in Assam, we distributed more than 80,000(kg) of food & 30,000(kg) of mask & sanitizers & 5000(kg) of crayons and art accessories in the affected areas. Our relief work was supported by Goonj, Catalyst 2030, Vartaleap Coalition, Vikalp Sangam, Doctors for India, Azim Premji Foundation, Rugby India, ITC Ltd. , Shamdasani Foundation, Zomato, Aranya Vihara, Breathe for India, Dear Sunshine Foundation and many individual well-wishers.