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OUR APPROACH
Transforming rainfed agriculture requires strategic, sustained, and collaborative support. Our approach is built around three principles—Nature, Scale, and Delivery of Support—anchored in a network approach that values collaboration, diversity, and shared learning.
We believe systemic change is only possible when many stakeholders—farmers, organizations, and institutions—come together to act collectively, build trust, and share knowledge. The RRA Foundation this collaboration through flexible support, patient capital, and facilitation of grassroots-led innovation.
Championing Grassroots Voices & Experiences
Solutions for rainfed regions must be locally grounded yet systemically connected. The RRA Network’s experience shows that a one-size-fits-all approach does not work. Guided by principles of local ownership, decentralisation, ecological sustainability, and community participation, the Network has developed diverse models—such as community-managed seed systems, decentralised millet revival, backyard poultry systems, and extensive livestock care models.
Building on this foundation, the RRA Foundation supports the scaling of such initiatives, enabling evidence generation, piloting of new ideas, and testing of context-specific solutions that strengthen resilience, livelihoods, and policy engagement.
BUILDING AN ECOSYSTEM FOR COLLABORATION, CO-CREATION, AND CO-EXISTENCE
Drawing from the Network’s multi-layered structure—state chapters, regional chapters, and thematic working groups—this portfolio focuses on strengthening the ecosystem for collaboration.
State chapters in Maharashtra and Himachal Pradesh influence policy, foster partnerships, and demonstrate replicable models. Regional chapters in Bundelkhand, Manbhum, and the Tribal Tri-junction regions focus on landscape-level challenges, generating collaborative evidence. Thematic working groups on seeds, millets, livestock, markets, and institutions bring expertise together to evolve frameworks, build capacities, and influence practice.
The Foundation sustains and expands this structure, enabling the network to co-create and coordinate interventions that enhance rainfed resilience.
TRANSLATING GROUND LEARNINGS INTO POLICY ACTION
This portfolio focuses on ensuring that grassroots experiences and innovations inform policy and programme decisions at local, state, and national levels. The Foundation supports participatory research, rigorous documentation of traditional agricultural practices, and collaborative studies that bring together network members, research institutions, and policymakers. By creating credible, field-validated evidence, the Foundation bridges the gap between practice and policy, ensuring that interventions are relevant, context-specific, and scalable. Furthermore, the portfolio fosters continuous dialogue between communities and decision-makers, enabling policies to reflect the diverse realities of rainfed regions, strengthen local capacities, and promote sustainable, climate-resilient agricultural practices. Through these efforts, the Foundation amplifies the voices of farmers and local organisations, ensuring that policy frameworks are informed by lived experiences and grounded knowledge rather than abstract models or top-down assumptions.
RRA Foundation – Empowering Rainfed Regions through patient capital and strengthened grassroots networks. A Section 8 Company committed to sustainable rural transformation since 2023.
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