Lipok Social Foundation

Vision: Sustainability drives the production, livelihoods, and consumption, in all that life requires. Mission: Together with farmers, communities, government, civil society organizations, consumers, retailers, and host of planet earth's stakeholders to bring about sustainable production, consumption, and livelihoods. Brief Description: The organization is based in Aurangabad – the administrative capital of Marathwada region. The region is infamous as the hotbed of farmer suicides in India as a result of grave injustice particularly towards the small farmers and peasants. Lipok Social Foundation (LSF) works with the communities to overcome the injustice through participative learning and actions that are led by the affected communities themselves. Currently, the organization works in Aurangabad, Jalna, and Pune districts of Maharashtra. During this time of unprecedented severe drought in the region, LSF works with targeted cluster of villages in tribal pockets of Aurangabad district on holistic development of the communities. Water being the crux, LSF addresses this issue along with the communities by facilitating village water resources conservation and management plans and implementation of the same. With the holistic development in context, the organization actively encourages the sharing of knowledge on traditional organic agriculture, organic agriculture practices, participatory guarantee systems (PGS) for organic farming, and marketing of the organic produce. Further, LSF also organizes forums for learning and support of micro-enterprises to expand their opportunities for livelihoods. This holistic approach is expected to reduce poverty and farm distress in these villages while leading to sustainability.