The Foundation for Rural Recovery and Development

The Foundation for Rural Recovery and Development (FORRAD) was established in Delhi in January 1980 to support and coordinate projects related to sustainable agriculture and resource conservation. FORRAD has over the years provided technical and financial support to more than 450 grassroots organisations across rural India in the states of Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Current project districts:

• Tiruvallur, Tamil Nadu
• Nalanda, Bihar
• Ajmer, Rajasthan
• Mahoba, Uttar Pradesh

FORRAD works to address the needs of smallholder farmers and sharecroppers focussing on water security and regenerative agriculture to mitigate the impact of anthropogenic climate change. To achieve this, FORRAD prioritises the restoration of traditional water conservation and management methods, for example the restoration of village ponds, traditional check dams in Rajasthan, traditional irrigation systems in Tamil Nadu, and traditional flood management systems in Bihar. FORRAD’s work on water security in the past 10 years has reached over 150,000 people.

FORRAD’s measures for increasing climate resilience in agriculture include the use of indigenous seeds, organic cultivation, and multi-cropping practices. FORRAD ensures that all projects are community driven and that the control over natural resources and technologies used are vested with the community.