Vrutti is registered as a Not-for-profit Society under the Karnataka

Annual
Societies Registration Act, 1960.
Date of Registration: 13 March 2002
It has the following regulatory approvals:

Report
2017
•
•
Section - 12 A and Section – 80 G of the Income Tax Act, 1961
Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) of 1976. That means
it can accept donations from foreign nationals. It has been
renewed and is valid until 31 Oct 2021.
 1 Message
from the Chairperson

In my capacity as Chairperson of Vrutti over the

past two years, and as a supporter and well-
wisher of the organisation for several years
before this, I have had the pleasure of watching
Vrutti grow and impact the lives of several
communities it works with.

Through the hard work and dedication of those

associated with Vrutti over the years, our efforts
to promote the livelihoods of the poor and
marginalised and drive inclusive development
are now yielding results at a much larger scale.
It’s deeply gratifying to see that Vrutti now
Dr. C. Vijaylakshmi covers over 97,000 farmers and their families,
Chairperson, Vrutti with a clear aim of tripling their incomes in 10
years’ time, while also maintaining a steady
focus on environmental sustainability. The
organisation’s support to communities is further
amplified by providing them with technical
support as a resource agency and acting
as a professional service provider to other
implementing organisations. Through these
roles, Vrutti has reached out to more than two
lakh farming communities. Their contribution
to policy dialogue is another critical input for
greater impact.

2 Vrutti
In addition, Vrutti lays great emphasis on I would like to acknowledge and thank all
promotion of women’s livelihood and financial Vrutti’s partners – from grassroot to national
security. Its intensive engagement with 35,500 level, for their support across implementation,
farmers includes 41% women farmers. The technical inputs, technology, funding and
support provided to 32 women owned business strategic value add. These partners work
is helping women entrepreneurs to grow their hand in hand with Vrutti, and together we
enterprises, and in doing so, increase their are learning from each other, and making a
economic participation. Vrutti’s work with 1.4 difference to ourselves and the communities
lakh vulnerable population including women we work with.
in sex work, MSM and transgender people to
enable financial security is promoting the health A defining moment this year was the
and safety of this extremely marginalised appointment of Mr. Pramel Gupta, Director
community and giving them increased control of the Northern operations to the post of
over their own resources. Chief Executive Officer and Secretary as well
as the appointment of Mr. S. Balakrishnan,
While we have made tremendous progress Director of Southern operations to the post of
on multiple fronts in the last few years, the Chief Operating Officer and Treasurer of the
challenges that lie before us are myriad Society. I look forward to working with the new
-- climate vagaries such as drought, floods leadership as they pursue Vrutti’s vision.
and cyclones deeply impact our small holder
producers and their collectives in terms of The Vrutti team has set ambitious targets for
procurement, sale and financing of goods. In itself this year in terms of the reach, coverage
addition, institutional building for our Farmer and impact of its various programmes. It
Producer Organisations (FPOs) is a challenge, seeks to expand its reach in the next year to
both from the institution’s perspective and fishing communities and to strengthen inputs
the capacities of our own staff in this complex on financial access to communities we serve.
activity. Working with banks to drive financial Its current reach, impact and signs of change
inclusion is another challenge area in terms of from the field as well as its plans for the future
getting them to look beyond mere achievement demonstrate that it is moving well towards its
of their own financial targets and to respond vision. I wish the team well on its journey.
to the demands of marginalised communities.
Despite all these challenges and in fact Dr. C. Vijaylakshmi
because of them, the need to create jobs and Chairperson, Vrutti
sustainable livelihoods at a national level and
ensure income equality for all our people has
made our mission more relevant and critical
today than ever before.

Annual report 3
 Accomplishments in 2016-17

Working with Small Working with

Holder Farmers: marginalised
• Cover 97,100 farmers in 6 states communities:
• Intensive engagement with 32,500
farmers • Worked with marginalised
population for financial
• Provided technical support to 54 security (women in sex work,
implementing organisations on MSM, Transgender): 1.4 lakh
business planning and technical across 6 states
capacity building as a resource
agency Working with Women
• Ensured other thematic
engagements on biodiversity,
Entrepreneurs
horticulture, livestock, water • Supported 32 Women
rejuvenation and farmer’s Owned Businesses (WOBs)
institutional building
4 Vrutti
Policy engagements on farmer’s collectives
and sustainable agriculture:
• Provided expertise in national and state level consultations on farmer’s
producer companies
• Contributed to the development of a roadmap for Farmer Producer
Organisations in Karnataka
• Member of Round Table for Responsible Soy (RTRS) and Better Cotton
Initiatives (BCI) international certification platforms for soy and cotton
commodities respectively
• Undertook 10 technical support assignments, directly by Vrutti and in
collaboration with Catalyst Management Services in biodiversity, land
and ecosystem management, soil and water conservation, organic and
sustainable agriculture, drip irrigation and agriculture and nutrition.
• Participated in 15 national and international platforms on sharing and learning

Annual report 5
 2 A Year
in Review

With the aim of further building scale and

sustenance, we worked closely with our
partners to develop an intervention model
of intensive engagement that increases
Vrutti is a centre for farmer’s incomes three-fold over 10 ten
years and developed technology solutions
sustainable livelihoods in line with this. Currently covering 32,500
enhancing people’s farmers, we have set our sights on reaching
well-being through 500,000 farmers by 2026.
knowledge, innovation and Our work on the financial inclusion of
transformative actions women in sex work, which started with
one intervention in Bangalore city in 2005,
was scaled up to over 80 community
Since 2002, we have been focused organisations in 2014. Continuing our work
on building sustainable livelihoods; with these organisations during the year, we
we are enablers of transformative were also engaged in designing a national
solutions that seek to end poverty, level initiative for financial inclusion to
marginalisation and create wealth marginal and vulnerable communities.
and build resilience for small
producers and marginalised and With women entrepreneurs in the
vulnerable communities. farming and non-farming sectors, the
year presented us with the opportunity to
2016-17 was a year of sharpening further build on our experience through a
our focus and streamlining programme that is intended to enhance the
our work and strategies with capacities of women owned businesses to
three communities: the farming partner with large retailers.
community, women entrepreneurs
and women in sex work. This Annual Report for 2016-17 follows
the people and the communities we have
We have been working with worked with during the year and traces the
farming communities for the past direction, journey and impact of the various
eight years and have developed, programmes we have undertaken to build
tested and scaled various sustainable livelihoods.
intervention models.

6 Vrutti
 3 Farming
Communities

of vermicompost produced on his own,

rather than using chemical fertilizers
bought from the market. The first
flowering was seen in 60 days.
Manoj increases The new variety yielded him 1.53
his yield and Quintals in 0.5 acres compared to
income through neighbouring farms that fetched 0.75 to
1 Quintal per acre. Having used lesser
new agriculture quantum of seeds and home-made
practices fertilisers, his cost of production was also
lower by Rs. 2,800. Through the support
and training he received, Manoj was able
Manoj Gour hails from to better the productivity of his crop, lower
Mardanpur village in Sephora costs, reduce risk from disease and care
District in Madhya Pradesh. for the health of his land.
Manoj owns 2.5 acres of land.
He is a member of the farmer Shobhana Iraya from Gulbarga is a
club formed by Vrutti and a Board member of the Menabal-Kagina
shareholder of Salkanpur Farmer Producer Company. She has
Farmer Producer Company learnt much through her association
Limited. Manoj is a regular at with the Producer Company and Vrutti.
all the training programmes She participates in Board meetings,
conducted by Vrutti. At one procurement processes and has gone for
such training organised in various exposure visits and other training
association with the National programmes. “This year our Farmer
Seeds Corporation, Manoj Producer Company started procurement
learnt about a new variety of Tur from its members. I earned a profit
of black gram seed that is of Rs. 25,000, which was much higher
immune to yellow mosaic, than before.” Shobhana got the benefit of
a common disease in black procurement and marketing services of
gram. He sowed 4 kgs of black Farmer Producer Companies.
gram seeds on 0.5-acres of
Manoj and Shobhana are two of the
land, following all the required
140,000 farmers that Vrutti works
practices of seed treatment and
with to build wealthy, resilient and
spacing. He applied 5 quintals
responsible farmers.

Annual report 7
 Vrutti has focused on working with MP
farming communities as agriculture is
the primary source of livelihoods for Number of districts: 11
over 50% of Indians, and over 70% of
Number of farmers: 30,142
farmers are small holder producers. We
revved up our direct engagement with No of FPOs: 22
farming communities from 2010-2011 No of SHGs and FIGs: 409
when we piloted, and subsequently
No of Enterprise Groups: 190
developed a proof of concept for the
“Agriculture Enterprise Facilitation Centre” Total Business Done (Rs.): 19,82,47,399
(AEFC). Scaling up from two districts in Total Finance Facilitated (Rs.):
Madhya Pradesh and 2,000 farmers, to 2,00,50,000
29 districts across six states and over
Funders: NABARD, SFAC, Edelgive
97,000 farmers, the model is constantly
Foundation, APPI, GAVL
evolving and growing, with its latest avatar
being the 3Fold Model – which involves
intensive engagement with farmers and
their institutions.
We focus on regions that are largely CG
rainfed, in districts identified by the
government for special assistance under Number of districts: 2
the Backward Regions Grant Fund,
Number of farmers: 3,000
and communities that are socially and
economically marginalised such as No of FPOs: 2
scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, No of SHGs and FIGs: 71
and small and marginal farmers.
No of Enterprise Groups: 4
These farmers, who typically have Total Business Done (Rs.): 6,45,600
between two to five acres of land and an
Total Finance Facilitated (Rs.): 16,60,000
average annual income of Rs. 15,000
to 40,000, face many challenges that Funders: APPI NABARD
prevent them from lifting themselves
out of poverty. Small landholdings and
rapidly depleting quality of soil and water
limit their choice of crop, and yield and AP - Andhra Pradesh
productivity are affected. Poor access CG - Chattisgarh
to knowledge, finance, markets, farming KA - Karnataka
equipment and new technology, further MP - Madhya Pradesh
exacerbate these problems, and limit their TS - Telanga State
entry into new markets. A fragmented TN - Tamil Nadu
ecosystem limits scale, support
and sustenance.

8 Vrutti
TN TS
Number of districts: 5 Number of districts: 2
Number of farmers: 16,963 Number of farmers: 3,000
No of FPOs: 19 No of FPOs: 8
No of SHGs and FIGs: 685 No of SHGs and FIGs: 125
No of Enterprise Groups: 5 No of Enterprise Groups: 2
Total Business Done (Rs.): 5,50,97,181 Total Business Done (Rs.): 13,50,00,000
Total Finance Facilitated (Rs.): - Total Finance Facilitated (Rs.): 15,26,000
Funders: NABARD, Edelgive, SFAC, Funders: APPI, NABARD
TNSFAC

KA AP
Number of districts: 8 Number of districts: 1
Number of farmers: 39,000 Number of farmers: 5,004
No of FPOs: 31 No of FPOs: 6
No of SHGs and FIGs: 1,225 No of SHGs and FIGs: 365
No of Enterprise Groups: 22 No of Enterprise Groups: 6
Total Business Done (Rs.): 1,16,88,23,382 Total Business Done (Rs.): 3,75,000
Total Finance Facilitated (Rs.): 14,90,000 Total Finance Facilitated (Rs.): 25,000
Funders: GAVL, SVP, NABARD, 3M, Funders: SFAC, NABARD
Green Foundation, APPI, SFAC

Our engagement with farming communities is through multiple approaches:

• Building and executing intervention models (either through our team or through partners)
• Technical support
• Policy engagements
• Knowledge sharing
During this year in particular, the intervention engagement was of two types: intensive and
theme-based. The intensive engagement covers multiple services at the levels of the farm,
market, finance and community institutions, envisaging outcomes at all these levels. The theme
based support relates to inputs and services on a single “theme” such as horticulture, livestock,
etc. with a view to improving outcomes on the particular theme.
During 2016-2017, we undertook intensive engagement with 32,500 farmers, and we aim to
cover 500,000 farmers by 2026.
Around 64,600 more farmers were covered during the year through theme based engagements
in areas such as FPO support, biodiversity conservation, horticulture promotion, livestock
management, and water recharge.

Annual report 9
 Intensive The 3Fold model, which includes four areas
of focus and elements (Refer image/box xx),
engagement with farmers: is being implemented across 10 Business
The 3Fold Model Acceleration Units (BAUs) and five states
of India (Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh,
Vrutti’s 3Fold model aims:
Telangana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu)
• To build wealthy, resilient and currently covering 32,500 farmers. We
responsible farmers intend to cover 500,000 farmers by 2026.
• To increase farmers’ income threefold
Services provided in the 3Fold model are:
in 10 years
1. Farm advisory and planning
• To focus strategies on the triad of farm,
2. Farm finance
famer and family
3. Providing inputs and services to agri and
The 3Fold model entails an intensive allied enterprises
engagement to address the lack of integrated 4. Value addition and marketing
services (end-to-end) for farmers by 5. Community institution strengthening
establishing a sustainable ecosystem that 6. Ecosystem building
enables collaborative actions for collective
Our partners in this journey have been
impact. Resilience is built through diversified
providing inputs that are critical to
enterprises, financial inclusion and risk
scaling and sustaining this programme.
transfer. Promoting good practices such as use
Our strategic partners namely Social
of bio-pesticides and bio-fertilisers, and linking
Venture Partners, Mindtree and Catalyst
farmers to organic product markets contributes
Management Services have supported the
to responsible farming practices.
ideation and strategic visioning of the model.
In addition, Social Venture Partners has
provided funding and assisted in developing
linkages to funders and Mindtree has also
provided extensive support in designing
technology solutions.

10 Vrutti
Grant funding, which is important to set up On the marketing side, the FPOs with support
and support the interventions till they mature from the project have facilitated procurement
and become financially self-sufficient, is and marketing of various commodities that
being provided by Azim Premji Philanthropic include onion, red gram, green gram, black
Initiative, Edelgive, Social Venture Partners, gram, maize and custard apple. These
Godrej Agrovet Ltd., NABARD, Small initiatives have not only benefited the
Farmers Agribusiness Consortium and facilitating FPOs to make profits, but also
GREEN Foundation. helped farmers to get an additional income
through better price. 7,000 farmers benefitted
Financial access services are being provided with Rs. 15,820 average income through
by Ananya Finance, Friends of World procurement and marketing services for tur,
Women Banking and Nabkisan Finance Ltd. green gram, cotton, groundnut, black gram
Ananya Finance has also provided capacity (14,300 tonnes).
development support.
The farmers benefited from diversified
Signs of change enterprises as over 9,000 enterprises were
built/supported during the year with inputs on
Farmers have begun to exhibit improved feasibility, business plan, technical, financial
awareness and implementation of farming and market support. These included goat
practices, technologies and farm and allied rearing, poultry farming, vermicompost
enterprises are more geared towards increased production units, flour mill and roti-making
income, reduction of risk and improved units as major individual-level enterprises.
environmental sustainability. Group-level enterprises have also been started
on mushroom production, bio-pesticides
23,000 farmers have been supported with the
production, ginger processing, incense sticks
development of farm plans, training on good
manufacturing, grocery shop, food centre,
agricultural practices, farmer field schools and
vermicelli manufacturing and dal mill.
demos, and exposure visits.
Rs. 3.4 crore was mobilized as credit for
15,500 farmers benefited through FPO
farmers, Farmer Interest Groups and FPOs;
services (eg: soil testing, seeds, fertilizers,
through linkages with financial institutions:
pesticides, growth promoters) promoted
SBI, Sanghamitra, L&T, Pradhan Mantri Rojgar
by Vrutti.
Yojana, District Credit Cooperative Banks
Farmer’s wealth is being built through (DCCB), Friends of World Women Banking
lowered input cost and increased returns for (FWWB), Ananya Finance and NABKISAN.
their produce. Inputs supply to farmers was
An important focus during the last year to
undertaken directly through FPOs, as well
reduce risk and promote resilience was to
as through convergence with government
create awareness on financial inclusion.
line departments. Farmers received seeds
Awareness on savings has improved.
of potato, maize, black gram, peas and
vegetables; fertilizers; bio-products; and farm
equipment at costs lower than the average in
the market.

Annual report 11
 The 3Fold model: Focus and elements
The focus of the 3fold model is to:

(a) Enable farmers to be independent entrepreneurs, by helping them acquire business

and operational knowledge, and rebuild hope and trust. This starts with building a
personal growth plan, followed by business planning for farmers’ enterprises and
potential diversification. Guided by the plan, customised capacity building and mentoring
support (farm advisory) are provided to every farmer.

(b) Facilitate accelerated and assured services with an integrated package that is farmer
and enterprise focused, building on their business plan. The services include access
to seeds, inputs, agricultural machinery services; financial inclusion and access to
capital; and access to markets (local and distant markets, retail/ institutional/ commodity
markets, branded, etc.). Access to products and services is enabled by developing
local entrepreneurs, linking farmers to services for financial literacy and financial
access, continuous opportunity assessment and feasibility assessment and linkages for
marketing support as well as linking to government programmes and schemes.

(c) Set up farmers’ interest groups, women enterprise groups and farmer producer
organisations and provide enterprise development support and linkages for undertaking
group-based enterprises, agriculture produce aggregation for marketing, value addition
enterprises and market engagement. Through these group based approaches, the scale
for running enterprises, complementing skills and dealing with markets are achieved.
Accessing services and inputs at a lower cost and sharing risks enable entrepreneurs to
take up these enterprises successfully.

(d) Provide farmers and their institutions continuous support (handholding, mentoring,
advisory, capacity building), along with exploring opportunities from markets, scientific
community and public investments. To enable this, we incubate clusters called ‘Business
Acceleration Units (BAUs)’ which establish a strong ecosystem in the agricultural
sector so that farming enterprises in these clusters become sustainable and scalable.
To deepen and accelerate impact, each BAU focuses on three to four key ‘commodity
chains’ (that are suitable to operate in the cluster and have market potential to increase
incomes), and ensures that farmers, enterprise groups and producer institutions move

12 Vrutti
up in those commodity chains to maximize their share of the consumer pie. In each BAU,
the coverage starts with 1,250 farmers in the first year, to reach 2,500 farmers in the third
year, and then accelerates to reach 10,000 farmers in the sixth year.

Four key elements in this model that accelerate and sustain the impact are:

Technology: Augmented by the information technology solution by Mindtree (I Got Crops),

each farmer is onboarded with their plans, the enterprises, good practices and market
information for decision making and support at every farmer and every cluster level.
Dashboards at every level track status, opportunities for improvement and market linkages.
This enables farmer-specific/ enterprise-specific farm advisory, order booking, inputs
requirements, outputs predictions and aggregation for marketing.

Activators: Within each BAU area, for every 300-400 farmers, an activator support is
provided. Activator is an integrator of all the services and support needed for the farmers;
a one-stop point for the farmer and farmers’ enterprise group to get solutions and support.
Integration at this point is critical to ensure impact. Activator is enabled with the technology
solution that improves their efficiency to support farmers in a holistic way.

Partnerships: Given the number of services and support needed for the farmers to
make an impact, there is a need to identify, nurture and enable partnerships at BAU and
Vrutti levels. The partnerships include government departments, market players, financial
institutions, consultants, human resource agencies, donors, auditors and company
secretaries, etc.

Business Model at FPO and BAU Level: Vrutti strongly believes that the BAUs and FPOs
should provide continuous support irrespective of the ‘project/ grant support’ to enable and
sustain impact. For this, it is critical that the costs required for basic support at the BAU
and FPO level is generated within that BAU area, building on the ‘value created’ to the
farmers and farmers institutions. The engagement of BAU with farmers and their institutions
starts with incubation funding (through CSR, donors, government, etc.), but over a period,
sustains its support through sharing of values created through transaction fees, retainer
fees and success fees. Vrutti expects that beyond a five-year incubation period, a BAU will
be able to generate adequate funds to continuously support the FPOs and farmers in a
BAU area.

Annual report 13
 Promoting and Sustaining produce. Financial access services are
being provided by Ananya Finance, Friends
Farmer Producer Organisations of World Women Banking and Nabkisan.
Ananya Finance is also supporting capacity
As farmers’ institutions, FPOs are pivotal to
building efforts.
aggregate farmers and leverage economies of
scale towards improving farming livelihoods.
Promotion of FPOs entails technical support Biodiversity Conservation and
to farmers through extension services, Rural Livelihood Improvement
institutional establishment and development
of FPO, farmer interest groups (FIGs) and
Project (BCRLIP)
farmer clubs; and promoting market and The BCRLIP project of the Ministry of
financial linkages. Environment, Forest and Climate Change
aims to conserve biodiversity in selected
Vrutti facilitates convergence with programmes
landscapes, including wildlife protected and
of the National Bank for Agriculture and
critical conservation areas, while improving
Rural Development (NABARD) and the
rural livelihoods through participatory
Small Farmers Agribusiness Consortium (
approaches. The Development of Joint Forest
Government of India SFAC-and Tamil Nadu
Management (JFM) and eco-development in
SFAC), Dept. of Agriculture Andhra Pradesh,
some states are models of new approaches
Dept. of Horticulture, Karnataka, and National
to provide benefits to both local communities
Food Security Mission, Bankers Institute of
and conservation efforts. BCRLIP intends to
Rural Development (BIRD) to promote FPOs.
build on these models and expand lessons to
other globally significant sites in the country
We are empanelled with the SFAC, Ministry
to strengthen linkages between conservation
of Agriculture, Government of India for
and improving livelihoods of local
Karnataka, (former) Andhra Pradesh, Tamil
communities that live in the neighbourhood of
Nadu and Madhya Pradesh. As an empanelled
biodiversity rich areas, as well as to enhance
agency, we are recognised as a qualified
the local and national economy.
resource institution that maybe deployed for
the promotion of FPOs, either by the state
Vrutti is implementing BCRLIP in Satpura,
government or SFAC itself.
Madhya Pradesh. The Satpura Landscape
Site (SLS) encompasses protected areas,
Vrutti is also a Producer Organisation
their buffer zones and territorial forest
Promoting Institution (POPI), as designated
divisions comprising both forest areas and
by NABARD in Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh,
revenue lands.
Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and
Chhattisgarh. We are a resource support
The project has focused on crop advisory,
agency of NABARD in two states—Karnataka
SHG revival, bio-dynamic composting,
and Madhya Pradesh.
training farmers on preparing organic
manure and water conservation, livelihoods
Through this convergence funding, Vrutti has
promotion plans developed at the household
promoted 88 FPOs in six states, covering
level, approving ecotourism sites (e.g. Alam
about 97,000 farmers. These institutions of
Dev) with the help of Gram Vaan Samiti,
small, marginal and landless farmers and tribal
reducing cost of cultivation, bio pesticide
farmers deal in several agriculture products
production at the SHG Level and providing
such as paddy, groundnut, black gram,
a 12-month package of practices to farmers
coconut, red gram, sunflower, soy, Bengal
cultivating oranges.
gram, cotton, maize, and livestock and forest

14 Vrutti
Samarth Vrutti started its engagement with the farming
community of this area in the year 2011 and
Vrutti partnered with Godrej Agrovet to provide has been working on promoting farmer’s
skill-based livelihood training to farmers and enterprise. To reduce the risk in agriculture
youth under its flagship program ‘Samarth’ through diversification, Vrutti identified dairy
which trains small and marginal farmers on development as a suitable allied enterprise.
livestock management to help improve cattle To equip farmers with livestock management
health and increase milk yield, and in turn techniques, Vrutti joined hands with Godrej
increase disposable incomes of poor farmers. Agrovet to implement their livestock
The training curriculum has been developed management programme. Twenty-five
by veterinarians and animal nutrition experts at farmers of Kinnisultan village were trained
Godrej Agrovet. under this programme on breed selection,
shed management, cattle management, and
Diversifying incomes at Kinnisultan Village health and nutrition management. Through
this support, the total number of cows in the
Kinnisultan, a small village under Aland block village has increased from 8 to 25 and the
of Kalaburagi district in the state of Karnataka total production of milk has increased from 60
is home mainly to smallholder farmers who litres to 240 litres per day. An additional milk
depend on farming as their primary source collection centre was added due to the overall
of income. As one of the most backward and increase in yield.
drought-affected areas, the farming community
here faces huge hardships.

Annual report 15
 Creamline Dairy Pvt. Ltd. Rejuvenating the lives of farmers
Prema Rama Devadiga is a farmer in
Associated closely with the Samarth
Badagabellur Village of Karnataka. Since her
programme is the grant from the Creamline
husband’s death five years ago, Prema relies
Dairy Pvt. Ltd. to train 3,600 farmers in and
on daily wages for her livelihood and owns
around its Kesavarnam plant in Telangana
a small piece of agricultural land which her
under the Samarth programme. The
children help her in cultivating. Her son also
programme launched in February 2017, is for
works as a driver of a school bus to earn extra
one year and during the reporting period set-up
wages, while her daughter-in-law takes care of
activities of recruitment and training of trainers
the house work.
and MIS, and baseline was started.
“We have a small piece of land near the nullah
Water Channel Rejuvenation and we restrict ourselves to cultivating one crop
Project a year. This time though, there was enough
water stored in the nullah due to excavation,
Funded by the United Breweries Ltd., Vrutti led so we decided to cultivate one extra crop. A
the project to rejuvenate the rain water channel big thank you to the UB Group for this project,”
in Badagabellur village to increase the water says an elated Prema. This 24 cents of
table level, and put in place mechanisms to agricultural land lies very close to the project
sustain the benefits over time through social site. Prema and her son put up a small bund in
engagement and community ownership. The the nullah as there was enough water flowing
project was implemented at Badagabellur through due to excavation work. This helped
village is located about 25 kilometers away her to utilize the water for her second crop.
from the UB plant in the industrial area in Prema feels that this project is going to make a
Baigumpaddy, Mangalore. big difference to the village.

During the year Vrutti was engaged in Sustainable Livelihoods for

rejuvenating efforts of desilting, widening
and deepening and building check dams. A
Wadi Tribals
community institution group was mobilised
Since April 2012, Vrutti has been working
to monitor the quality of the work and
with about 500 Gound tribal families in
oversee maintenance of the structures. The
Hoshangabad district of Madhya Pradesh
rejuvenation of this nullah has improved the
under NABARD’s Tribal Development Fund
water table in the cultivable lands surrounding
(TDF). The project provides sustainable
the nullah and the farmers who own these
livelihoods for tribal families by developing
lands are able to cultivate two crops a year
orchard-based, integrated farming systems
now. The water recharge potential of this
called Wadi, and promoting sustainable
project has been estimated at 270,000 KL
participatory livelihood programmes, both Wadi
per annum. The project has benifitted 80-90
and otherwise.
farmers and had a direct impact of 350-400 ha.
of land

16 Vrutti
Under this programme, we promoted
horticulture, offered ways to improve
agriculture, developed water resources and
undertook soil and water conservation. Apart
from this, we sought to empower tribal families,
women in particular, by equipping them with
knowledge and skills in the areas of health
and finances. Finally, we supported activities
that led to the development of tribal markets,
and to improved processing and marketing
of products manufactured by tribal families
and communities.

Through our efforts:

• About 500 families have benefited from the
Wadi model till date, through financial and
technical support and providing products
such as fruit saplings, storage tanks for
irrigation, water pipes and motors for water
resource development, and solar lanterns
and smokeless chulas (stove) for cooking
purposes; we have also organised health
camps for people and animals.
• In 2016-17 there were 330 families
associated with the Wadi programme; about
170 families left the programme due to
migration and noncompliance of Wadi rules.
• Of the 330 families, about 150 have
started selling their fruits in the local area
to earn profits. Many of the farmers have
also benefited from the vegetable scheme
and earn Rs. 7,000 per family through
vegetable cultivation.

Annual report 17
 Vegetable Cultivation Through principles, to develop master trainer in
area(s). We conducted good package of
Kitchen Garden practice demonstrations at lead famers levels
Organizes SHs consultations/meeting around
A project funded by Fullerton India Credit
both the commodity to ensure proper market
Company Limited is being carried out as pilot
linkages with involvement of FPOs.
with 100 farmers in 5 villages each from Durg
and Dhamtari districts of Chhattisgarh with
the aim of improving the income, health and Technical support
nutrition standards of tribal farm families., 200
women beneficiaries were divided into 20 Our support to farming communities also
small groups having 10 members per group. involves providing to partners to integrate
These Women Groups were given trainings and improve their efficiency. As a resource
for vegetable cultivation Mini kits of Vegetable agency on Farmer Producer Organisations,
Seed and also training on we have supported about 54 organisations on
business planning, technical capacity building,
Coco peat based Nursery Development. facilitating exposure visits, etc. covering nearly
1.2 lakh farmer
1. 10 coco peat prepared in 10 villages.
BIRD training the CEOs of FPOs done we need
2. 10 women SHG formed.
to bring in

Working with Sustainability In addition, during the year we were engaged

Organisations Round Table of in assignments in the areas of impact and
programme evaluations, and research.
Responsible Soy and Better These services enable the implementers to
Cotton Initiative scale their interventions, design strategies
and interventions, ensure accountability and
Vrutti worked with organisations like Better understand issues to enable them to better
Cotton Initiatives (BCI) and Round Table move towards their impact. During the year we
of Responsible Soy (RTRS)- International executed the following assignments:
standard for sustainable supply chain
• Biodiversity Impact Assessment of
development. This year worked with worked
the Integrated Land and Ecosystem
with around 10000 small holders cotton farmers
Management to Combat Land degradation
with promotion of 2 producers units (PUs)
and Deforestation programme in Madhya
in Chhindwara district of Madhya Pradesh.
Pradesh for the Global Environmental
Vrutti is working with across the cotton value
Finance Small Grants Programme of UNDP
chains- ginner, spinners etc. to strengthen the
sustainable business. Vrutti as RTRS member • Socio-economic Impact Assessment
working with around 12000 small holders of the Integrated Land and Ecosystem
farmers across the MP in 5 districts. Last years’ Management to Combat Land degradation
18600 credits gains and sold to the different and Deforestation programme in Madhya
industry such as Moypark, Axfood Pradesh for the Global Environmental
Finance Small Grants Programme of UNDP
Under the BCI and RTRS Vrutti established • Impact Evaluation of Organic Cotton
producer internal control systems (ICS) Programme of Cotton Connect
to promote and monitor the adoption of
• Mid-term evaluation of soil and water
sustainability principles. Our role was to
conservation for sustainable improvement
provide training to the farmers on different
of local agriculture and living conditions of
marginalized families

18 Vrutti
• Evaluation of the Aga Khan Rural • Agricultural Incomes and Nutrition: A Study
Support Programme’s Expanding on The Effect of Seasonality and Household
Drip Irrigation Project Coping Mechanisms on nutrition in four
districts of Madhya Pradesh for the Bill and
• Baseline and Evaluation of the DSCL-IFC
Melinda Gates Foundation, led by Dr. Anjini
Sugarcane Agribusiness Project
Kochar of Stanford University, with Dr. Rajiv
• Monitoring and Evaluation for farmer Dasgupta and Dr. Rajiv Tandon as senior
support programme for sustainable technical consultants on nutrition
sugarcane in India (Joint initiative of the
• Training of Farmer Producer Organisation
International Finance Corporation IFC
CEOs on behalf of Bankers Institute of
and Solidaridad)
Rural Development
• Assistance in Establishing Enterprises
• Feasibility study for IDH sustainable grape
in Comprehensive Pilots for Sustainable
initiative program in Nashik
Access to Services and Products, and
Maximising Returns to Farmers • Vrutti provided training for the CEOs and
Leaders of FPOs in South India Organized
• from the Value Chains to organisations in
by BIRD, Lucknow.
the Revitalisation of Rainfed Agriculture

Annual report 19
 Knowledge sharing Implementation partners - A stakeholder
consultation on scaling up BBF
Knowledge sharing is undertaken with a view (August 2016)
to build perspectives towards integrating • Vrutti senior management presented its
models, scale-up and replication. During the 3Fold model at the Million Jobs Mission
year, through participation in platforms at the Conclave, New Delhi (January 2017)
national and international levels we were given
• Mr. Arunabha, Mr. Pramel, Mr. Balakrishnan
the opportunity to share our work and learn
participated in the Roundtable discussion
from others. Some of the main forums we were
on the capacity-building needs of the non-
engaged in include:
profit sector in India, organised by SVP.
• Mr. Pramel Gupta was a speaker at the (January 2017)
two-day National Conference on Framer
• Mr. Raghunathan presented the 3Fold
Producer Organisations, Institute of Rural
model and progress at EDGE, a platform
Management, Anand; February 2017
where EdelGive annually brings together
• Mr. Pramel Gupta was selected for the its NGO partners and Donors to discuss
one-year Dasra Social Impact Leadership and share their work and explore new
Program based on Harvard Business partnerships. (November 2016)
School course design in Mumbai
• Mr. Raghunathan was a panellist at the
• Mr. N. Raghunathan received the “Most Communities of Future Summit, organised
talented Rural Marketing Professional in by Mindtree, sharing his experiences to
India”, an award presented to 50 individuals budding social entrepreneurs (March 2017)
annual by CMO, Asia (February 2017)
• Mr. Narendran and Mr. Arunabha attended
• A select Vrutti team from Bhopal attended the Inclusive Finance India Summit,
the National Workshop on Doubling organised by ACCESS
Farmer’s Income, New Delhi, organised by
• Mr. Muralidharan, Mr. Narendran and Mr.
NABARD on its establishment day.
Arunabha participated in the Livelihoods
• A select Vrutti team from Bhopal Asia Summit 2016
accompanied Board of Directors of a
• Mr Raghunathan and Mr Pramel Gupta
few FPOs for “Seed Production Training
went to Ethopia to share study findigns
to Farmers Producer Company (FPCs)”
on Agricultural Incomes and Nutrition-
Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya,
Formative research on the effect of
Jabalpur (January 2017)
agricultural income seasonality on the
• CEO of producer companies attended health of pregnant women and infant
a five-day training on farmers producer children and an exploratory analysis into
Organisations (FPOs) development- the determinants of causal relationships
Banking institute of rural development
(BIRD), Lucknow (September 2016)
Policy engagement
• Mr. Pradeep Rao attended the National
level workshop on “Securing the forest, Through extensive presence, experience
land and soil, by Club of Rome, New Delhi and evidences from the field we have been
(November 2016) engaged in platforms at the policy level
• Mr. Jiten Kaurav, Project Manager,
attended the Better Cotton Initiative Farmers Collectives:
(BCI) Implementing Partners Meet, We are engaged in national and state level
Hong Kong (2016) consultations on farmer’s producer companies
• The Vrutti team attended a workshop as experts and resource intuitions. We
by ITC on Broad Bird Fellow (BBF) are members of the NABARD Producer

20 Vrutti
Organisation Development Fund (PODF) The network is established to focus on
advisory committee, which sets strategic improving the status of rainfed agriculture in
direction for the fund and periodically India as there is a very high link to the level of
reviews progress. poverty and the status of rainfed agriculture.
The Revitalising Rainfed Agriculture (RRA)
Mr. Balakrishnan participated in the road map Network has been supporting nine action
for establishment of Centre of Excellence for research Comprehensive Pilots across
FPOs in Karnataka, organised by Department through its network of NGO partners across
of Horticulture, Karnataka. Vrutti will be India Vrutti’s role is currently to “To house and
engaged in CoE. establish enabling mechanisms and systems
for the Secretariat of RRAN to deliver its roles
Sustainable agriculture and functions to the RRAN”.
Vrutti is as member of Round table for
Responsible Soy (RTRS) and Better Cotton The scope of the support of Vrutti is limited to
Initiatives (BCI) international certification Secretarial Functions and not the functions
platforms for soy and cotton commodities related to the membership mobilization, policy
respectively. As part of both platforms Vrutti advocacy, and other coordinating functions that
works across the value chain players to are undertaken by other arms of the Network.
sensitise and invest in sustainability. Both
initiatives have potential to formulate policy on Vrutti has been facilitating the contracting of
sustainable and responsible commodity from the project management unit, NGOs as per
farm to market level. the decisions of the Board of the RRAN, as
per the board instructions Vrutti releases the
The Revitalising Rainfed Agriculture grant and managing the grant and reporting
Network to the board and to the donors under the
Vrutti is hosted the Secretariat of the RRAN. Secretariat. Apart from this, we have facilitated
The Revitalising Rainfed Agriculture Network the auditing and statutory reporting as
(RRA Network) is a growing network of over 60 required under this contract.
civil society organisations, research institutions,
policy makers, donor agencies and individuals
advocating for a differentiated agricultural policy
and support system for rainfed areas in India.

Annual report 21
 4 Marginalised
and vulnerable communities

alcohol. Her organisation encouraged her

to take a loan, with which she purchased a
buffalo, that now yields enough to sustain
her as well as repay her loan. Her financial
Shobika starts a new independence enabled her to move away
from sex work and live life on her own
journey with financial terms. Today, she says: “Moving away from
independence sex work gave me emotional freedom in a
way I hadn’t experienced.”
Shobhika, a 45-year-old mother
of three, was diagnosed with HIV Navya Shree Mahila Welfare Society
four years ago. Her husband, an (NSMWS) is a community organisation in
abusive alcoholic had pushed her Warangal district of Telangana working with
into sex work at an early age to marginalized women in the region. Kavita
provide for the family. is one of the many community members
and an outreach worker working under
Since 10 years she is a member Bill and Melinda Gates funded Avahan-3
of the community organisation programme. During discussions with the
‘Savitribai Mahila Sanstha’ women and insights from a baseline study,
which one of the 80+ community Kavita realized that there was no felt
organisations supported under need for bank accounts by the community
the Avahan-3 initiative of the Bill members or their families.
and Melinda Gates Foundation,
implemented by Swasti health Kavita started visiting the members and
resource centre in collaboration educating the members on the benefits
with Vrutti. of a bank account. While some members
were willing to visit the bank, others were
Through engagement with the reluctant to travel to the bank in Warangal
project team Shobhika learned to to apply for bank accounts owing to travel
save money instead of allowing expenses and loss of wages for a day.
her husband to take it away to buy With the guidance of the programme team,
she calculated the opportunity cost for the

22 Vrutti
members and even devised a cost-benefit Vrutti works with women like Shobhita or
dialogue to convince members that it worth the members of NSMWS – communities in
their effort. She mobilized three more women difficult circumstances, women in sex work,
from within the community to help her amplify communities living with or vulnerable to HIV.
the effect. Simultaneously, she requested These communities are disempowered and
the Financial Security mentor under Avahan unable to take decisions on their lives and
to initiate dialogue with the bank officials at livelihoods. A critical component that triggers
Warangal for opening new bank accounts. and sustains this situation relates to finance.
Vrutti steps in to provide support related to
Kavita started helping the members in the financial literacy, financial inclusion, livelihoods
documentation process in batches. She helped support, which provides them a sense of
over 20 batches of five members each and security and of pride, empowering them to take
visited the bank with the members who needed decisions for their and their family’s well-being.
support. The applications under Pradhan Mantri
Jan Dhan Yojna were successfully submitted In the past year, Vrutti has been working
at the bank after one and a half month of hard closely with women in sex work, transgender
work and the members of the community communities and their institutions. Our work
organisations now had bank accounts. with these communities started around 2005
and we are currently covering over 1.4 lakh key
population through two projects

Annual report 23
 Swathi Jyothi affordable individual and group credit for their
personal, household or enterprise needs, and
Sex work as a means of livelihood for many avail insurance. Since September 2016, we
vulnerable and marginalised women is an have revamped operations, got a new banking
option born out of desperation rather than solution installed and significantly reduced cash
choice. Lack of financial knowledge and transactions in the field. Also, a new Governing
security not only pushes them into sex work, Board has taken over and new financial
but increases their vulnerabilities to sexually products are being launched.
transmitted infections and HIV,
Some numbers that reflect the achievements of
In 2005, Swasti in collaboration with Vrutti Swathi Jyothi as on March 31, 2017:
and Swathi Mahila Sangha, a community
organisation of women in sex work began
to implement Pragati, a project funded by • Total membership: 9,209
the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation,
• Number of loan accounts: 9,816
for empowerment of women in sex work.
Designing the initiative, we learned that women • Total member savings: Rs. 93.2 lakh
in sex work were unable to access financial • Total loans distributed in the year:
services from mainstream and micro finance Rs. 1.04 crore
institutions because of stigma attached to the • Total income by Swathi Jyothi: Rs. 24.6 lakh
occupation, absence of skill and orientation of
the staff to serve this community, absence of • About 39% of the members strengthened
adequate identity documents, and street-based their business or started new businesses by
and mobile characteristic of the community. availing loans
Further, the women had little knowledge of • Swathi Jyothi has access to on-lending
good financial practices and management, and funds from Friends of Women’s World
skills of financial negotiation, exacerbating their Banking (FWWB)
vulnerabilities.
To address these financial aspects that Avahan III
contributed to women’s disempowerment, in The Avahan India AIDS Initiative which began
September 2007 we set-up Swathi Jyothi, a in 2003, was a focused prevention initiative
Micro Finance institution designed through funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
a cooperative model that enabled financial (BMGF) that worked in six states of India
services to women in sex work and supported with an aim to reduce HIV transmission and
financial literacy. We led the development of lower the prevalence of sexually transmitted
the concept and strategic direction, and have infections in vulnerable key populations –
been providing technical support to manage female sex workers, the gay and transgender
the cooperative. The model addressed community and injecting drug users – through
all the issues that prevented women from prevention education and services. In its first
financial security. two phases, the programme focused on HIV
Over the last 10 years, Swathi Jyothi has prevention through saturation of coverage
enabled around 7,900 members to save of the target population, improved uptake
money and gain financial literacy. The Swathi of services to treat sexually transmitted
Jyoti model enabled this community to access infections and regular and consistent use of

24 Vrutti
contraceptives. The second phase brought Jeevitha Bima Pathakam, LIC and other
in building and strengthening of community govt. schemes
organisations of the key populations, • 35% have investments
including collectivization and building
community platforms for discourse, advocacy • 45% at least one deposit account
and sustenance of the outcomes. The two They have now been incorporated into
phases yielded results and made gains in the mobile app and better follow up is
lowering the HIV prevalence. expected in the coming quarters. Post
In its third phase, from 2014 the objective demonetization, imparting of digital literacy
of the Avahan programme was to “sustain skills has been prioritized.
the impact of HIV prevention efforts in
four states in India.” BMGF partnered with Technical support
Swasti and Vrutti to implement phase III
Through our work with marginalised and
of the Avahan programme. Building on the
vulnerable communities we are supporting
learnings from the Swathi Jyoti programme,
Breakthrough, a human rights organisation
Vrutti focused on interventions that were
working to make violence and discrimination
aimed at financial security and literacy
against women and girls unacceptable,
among this community. We worked with key
by conducting an impact evaluation of its
populations in 80 locations across five states
programme to increase the age at marriage of
of India – Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra
girls in Bihar and Jharkhand through media and
Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu. A total
field strategies. The evaluation is funded by the
of 1,26,209 of this population now have
International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie)
membership in community organisations that
the programme covers.
The operational strategies for this
programme included facilitating access
to financial products, building common
facilitation centres to enroll key populations
with in government schemes, establishing
cooperative banks where required, facilitating
access to financial products, financial literacy
and planning.
Our intervention has helped the key
population have more control over their
• 80% received sessions on financial
literacy and planning
• 63% developed financial plans
• 73% have bank accounts (better than
national average of 45%)
• 77% availed insurance services from
banks, Jivan Jyoti Bima Yojana, Indira

Annual report 25
 5 Women
entrepreneurs

The Women Enterprise Development Programme

(WEDP) has been an eye opening and a great learning
experience. It has made me more aware as a social
entrepreneur. Various workshops by the experts
enhanced my knowledge in different field like finance, management
and marketing. The mentors were very warm and supportive. The
knowledge and confidence gained has helped and will continue
to guide me to make my organisation strong and economically
viable. I am highly thankful to Walmart and Vrutti for giving me
the opportunity to be a part of this very useful programme. The
important lesson I have learnt from WEDP programme that we
need to open ourselves and continue to work to strengthen our
organisation with new ideas and possibilities. If we
have a will to change our situation, we can!

– Moon Sharma, Participant WEDP

The way I look at business had changed. I feel more

confident and ready to face challenges. Now am
confident enough to approach corporates which was
impossible before attending the WEDP. Team Vrutti
had been very supportive always ready to help us no matter what.
They treated us like a family with utmost care. Thank
you, Walmart, for the conducting such a one of a kind
programme. It was beyond our expectations.

- T.Sailaja, Participant WEDP

26 Vrutti
 It is for me a matter of immense pride that my product will now
be seen in Walmart Stores. I have worked hard for
this moment and I feel indebted to this program.

- Prabha, Participant WEDP

Prabha, Shailaja, Moon, all entrepreneurs, requirements are met through informal sources
faced obstacles that most women and nearly three-fourth of these businesses
entrepreneurs face, including inhibiting laws have unmet financial needs.
and regulations, lack of self-confidence,
isolation from business networks, and social The opportunity to focus specifically on women
and familial pressures related to gender entrepreneurs as a group for livelihoods
roles. Another critical barrier to the growth promotion was realised through Walmart’s
of Women Owned Businesses is access to Women Enterprise Development Programme
formal finance. Over 90 percent of finance (WEDP).

Annual report 27
 Women Enterprise Development assessment of their needs. 32 were supported
during the year
Programme
The programme used a combination of
Under its theme of growth, competitiveness and
Capacity Building Workshops, handholding
sustainability of Women Owned Businesses,
and mentoring support, and networking
Vrutti partnered with Walmart to implement
to strengthen both the entrepreneur and
its Women Entrepreneurship Development
enterprise and connect them to large
Programme (WEDP) from December 2015 and
corporations including Walmart.
April 2017. This programme sought to build
the capacities of women owned businesses The WOBs participated in regional workshops
(WOBs) and equip them with professional and on Life Skills, Marketing and Social Media;
life skills to develop robust businesses. Financial Management and Business
Planning; Regulatory & Legal Compliance
Based on rigorous assessment process,
and Operational Excellence. The Life Skills
we identified 44 WOBs from three clusters
component included a Life Skills workshop
(National Capital Region, Hyderabad and
and participant interaction with successful
Vijayawada), which were near the Walmart
entrepreneurs who could become mentors and
Best Price Cash & Carry Stores. We developed
role models to them.
a capacity building programme that was
designed and delivered based on a thorough

28 Vrutti
In total, 32 women entrepreneurs graduated from • 25 WOB developed Business plan; using it
the WEDP, which trained these entrepreneurs in to access loans and investments
professional and soft skills to help build robust • Women report Improved awareness
businesses. Eight of these were identified and capacity on corporate governance,
as future Walmart India suppliers, since their marketing and finance
products fitted the assortment.
• Linkages forged with other Women owned
At the graduation event a book, ‘Wind businesses; opportunities for sharing,
Beneath The Wings,’ was launched by Shri. learning and finding solutions to challenges
Amitabh Kant, CEO, Niti Ayog, which captures • Network and partnerships with various
the real life stories of women entrepreneurs initiatives through social media, organized
and the accomplishments and struggles sessions for WE,
unique to them as they establish and grow
their businesses. • Facilitation of Govt. Schemes and
building partnerships (National Institute
for Entrepreneurship and Small
Some signs of change: Business Development - NIESBUD, JU,
• 90% shown good progress in their life Confederation of Women Entrepreneurs
skills and social capital (self-reported) to COWE, Edukans)
pursue their dreams

Annual report 29
 6 Partners

• CDPL - Creamline Dairies Pvt Ltd

• Ford Foundation
• Swasti Health Catalyst
We would like to acknowledge • UB - United Breweries
and express our gratitude to our
partners who have provided us Business Partners
immense support and walked • Walmart
with us on our journey. They have
been strategic co-creators of our • NEISBUD National Institute for
models, helped us with funding Entrepreneurship and Small Business
and communicating our work to Development
others, and brought in the latest • SIDBI Small Industries Development
technology solutions. • Bank of India
• NMMSME
Funding partners:
• BMGF Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
• Godrej Agrovet
• Syndicate Bank
• Azim Premji
Philanthropic Initiative • Swasti
• Edelweiss
Partners engaged in model co-
• NABARD - National Bank
for Agriculture and Rural creation and execution:
Development • Social Venture Partners
• NABFINS - NABARD • Mindtree
financial services • Community Organisations - 74
• SFAC - Small Farmer’s • Producer Companies – 80
Agribusiness Consortium
• Swati Jyothi
• Ananya Finance
• Catalyst Group Partners:
• FWWB - Friends of Women’s
World Banking • Catalyst Management Services

• TNSFAC - Tamil • Swasti

Nadu Small Farmers • GREEN Foundation
Agribusiness Consortium • Fuzhio

30 Vrutti
 7 Enablers

Vrutti organisation
Keeping in mind the challenges to
scale, especially that of enablers, critical
Vrutti’s accomplishments have
initiatives taken during the year include:
been driven by a hardworking,
driven and passionate staff of • Financial Assurance System
98 employees, of which 86% (FAS): The finance team
are male and 14% female. participated in the FAS, an internal
The staff was supported audit, which identifies gaps in
by 10 interns. systems, processes, capacities,
etc. and recommends actions for
The Finance, People improvement.
Engagement, MEAL • Leadership Development
(Monitoring, Evaluation and Programme: The People
Learning) and Admin teams Engagement team coordinated a
provided support through the leadership development programme
year to all the other operational for senior managers, who were
teams. Their contribution to the stepping into leadership shoes.
scale that Vrutti is reaching is
significant. This enabler team
( Finance, Human Resources
and Administration ) provided
the backbone support to the

Annual report 31
 8 Governance

Members of the Vrutti Governing Body (as on 31 March 2017):

S-No Name Designation Educational Brief Profile

in the Society Qualification

1 C. Vijayalakshmi Chairperson M Sc (Ag), She is currently Professor at IFMR. She

PGDRM has 25+ years experience working in the
(IRMA). development sector. Prof Vijayalakshmi’s
FPM (MDI- research expertise and interest in organizational
Gurgaon) transformations in public sector organizations
including banks and her corporate experience
in senior management positions and as a
consultant support her teaching career. She has
several international publications to her credit.
She has conducted several MDPs for corporate
clients. She has also carried out research and
consulting assignments for clients including
NABARD, Hand in Hand and CII Foundation.
2 Pramel Gupta Secretary Msc (Agri Over 20 years experience in implementation of
Economics), Agriculture & NRM based livelihoods projects
BSc (Agri) and in supporting various NGOs and programs
on community based rural livelihood promotion,
agriculture-based and integrated farming
system interventions, Micro credit, Local Self
Governance, Institutional Development and
participatory monitoring and evaluation in
different parts of the country.
He has worked at the grassroots level for about
10 years, directly with community groups and
BoP households for enterprise development and
livelihoods promotion. I have vast experience
in working across India; especially in the States
of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. Have been
part of numerous livelihoods projects of DFID
in various capacities (community organizer,
M&E specialist, impact assessments consultant,
Supportive Supervision team leader, domain
expert etc.).

32 Vrutti
3 S. Balakrishnan Treasurer PGDMM, Bala works on promoting Sustainable
PGDBM Livelihoods, He is involved in Institution
Building, Value Chain Development , Business
Planning & Support, Integrated Action
Research, providing Advisory -Technical
Support, Monitoring and Evaluation,
Mentoring and Advisory Services He has been
supporting inclusive livelihoods promotion
by other livelihoods promoting institutions,
building up networks, supporting CSOs in
effective delivery of livelihood models, policy
engagement at the region level and developing
and establishing a effective delivery system
it includes team mobilisation, recruitment,
induction, capacity building and supporting the
team on the job.
4 T. Muralidharan Member B.Sc.(Agri), He has 35+ years working on social Finance.
PGDBA He works on facilitating financial access for
Farmer Producer Organisations & MSMEs
from financial institutions &commercial banks
& Capacity building of FPOs and MSMEs for
‘credit readiness He has worked in HiVOS
as a Programme Officer (Financial Services
& Enterprise Development) and supported
projects & programmes with with special focus
on micro-finance, financial inclusion, value
chain finance and business development
services for the poor. He has helped in
operationalising the Hivos Triodos Fund with
support to 4 leading MFIs in India (Basix,
Share Microfin, Cashpor, Spandana) -Jointly
responsible for setting up the wholesale
microfinance fund viz. The Bellwether
Microfinance Fund, Hyderabad .Supported
5 microfinance organisations with seed
capital for scaling up operations, capacity
building, legal transformation and reaching
sustainability viz. Grameena Koota, Sakhi
Samudaya Kosh, Janara Hana of Samuha,
Jan Chetna Sansthan, Peoples Forum. -
Facilitated establishing a debt and equity
fund viz. Caspian Impact Investment Fund
a debt fund for Producer Organisations for
meeting financial needs of working capital and
investment credit along Value Chains. Prior to
that he spent about 20+ years in Vijaya Bank

Annual report 33
 5 Shiv Kumar Member B.Sc. A Social Entrepreneur, institution and people
(Agri) builder, Shiv has dedicated 25+ years
PGDBA working on social development, in India and
internationally. His experience is in the fields
of Health, Education and Livelihoods and
interests include Governance, Monitoring,
Evaluation, Learning, Technology in
Development, Behaviour Sciences and
Institutional transformation. Starting
his career in a leading farmer owned
co-operative, he has founded several
organisations within the Catalyst Group -
Catalyst Management Services, a consulting
firm; Swasti – a health resource centre and
Vrutti – a livelihood resource centre and
Fuzhio, a impact product company. Shiv
holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Rural
Management (1989-91) from IRMA

6 N. Member BE(Agri), A Social Entrepreneur, institution and people

Raghunathan PGDRM builder, Raghu has dedicated 25+years
working on social development, in India and
internationally. His experience is in the fields
of Health, Education and Livelihoods and
interests include Governance, Monitoring,
Evaluation, Learning, Technology in
Development, Behaviour Sciences and
Institutional transformation. Starting
his career in a leading farmer owned
co-operative, he has founded several
organisations within the Catalyst Group -
Catalyst Management Services, a consulting
firm; Swasti – a health resource centre and
R– a livelihood resource centre and Fuzhio,
a impact product company. Shiv holds a
Postgraduate Diploma in Rural Management
(1989-91) from IRMA

7 MRC Ravi Vice Chair LLB A qualified in Business Administration and

Person has obtained his Bachelor Law Degree
from Kamaraj University, Madurai. He has
rich experience of 32 years in the field of
Consultancy and Advocacy. He is also a
Senior Partner in ILPM CONSULTANTS
which is a leading industrial law and
corporate law Firm with a specialized in
bound practice having started its operations
in the year 1970.

34 Vrutti
8 V. Member PGDRM A Fisheries expert working for strengthening
Vivekanandan (IRMA). livelihoods through new technology, mar-
keting coops, microfinance, input services,
etc. proponent of community based fisher-
ies management and co-management for
the last decade. . Mr V Vivekanandan has
worked in the South Indian Federation of
Fishermen Societies (SIFFS) for over 25
years, initiating programmes in fish market-
ing, boat building,micro finance, develop-
ment of fish marketing societies, socio-eco-
nomic research, experiments in community
based resource management, etc.

9 R. Member Tele- A Telecomunication Engineer. 40 years in

Parthasarathy commu- the Corporate sector, A retired Director of
nication International Telecommunications Satellite
Enginner Organization (INTELSAT), a satellite com-
munication industry in Washington ,Currently
supporting development initiatives

Annual report 35
 About Vrutti
Vision
Vrutti is a centre for sustainable livelihoods enhancing people’s well-being through knowledge,
innovation and transformative actions
We focus on livelihoods; we are enablers of transformative solutions that seek to end poverty,
marginalisation and create wealth and build resilience for small producers and marginalised and
vulnerable communities.
As social entrepreneurs, we pursue problem solving with entrepreneurial zeal, business acumen,
courage to innovate and we consistently challenge traditional practices and ensure we measure
our progress.
We design ecosystem solutions for smallholders and marginalised communities that combine the
strength of communities, efficiency of market, reach of Vrutti and power of the state.

Core Beliefs
We strongly believe that ‘Sustainable Livelihood Approaches’ can be a great lever to address
poverty, marginalisation and inclusive development. It is important that these approaches are
customised to address different forms of marginalisation, needs and aspirations.
We believe strongly in ‘People first’ – all our work starts with ‘empathy-led design’ with people and
their issues at the centre. We believe in the innate capacity of all people to contribute meaningfully
to development.
Constraints provide the opportunity to be creative, and we work within constraints imposed from
outside, as well as generate self-imposed constraints to design creative solutions.
Influenced by individuals and initiatives in the development sector such as Dr. Kurien and Arvind
Eye, uncompromising compassion, affordable excellence, and sustenance of support are non-
negotiable aspects of our engagement and design efforts.
To us, scale is about reach and impact at the community level and we consider our success by
the depth of impact and sustainability of benefits. We strongly believe in objectively evaluating
ourselves and improving.

Our Strategy
• Design models that are directly executed by Vrutti
• Co-create models/collaborate with partners for scale-up
• Provide technical support to partners to integrate and improve efficiency
• Knowledge sharing, building perspectives towards integrating models, scale-up and replication
• Meaningful engagement to contribute to policy shaping
For more information on our strategy visit: http://vrutti.org/index.php/strategies/strategies-overview

36 Vrutti
Catalyst Group
Vrutti is a part of the Catalyst Group, which was established in 1994 and has been
contributing towards empowering poor and marginalised communities across India and
other developing countries.
We are six institutions that form the Catalyst Group ­Catalyst Management Services (CMS),
Swasti, Vrutti, Fuzhio, GREEN Foundation and the Catalyst Foundation. Together we engage
with the development sector through various levers of model building and execution, institutional
development, professional services and trading. Each lever requires different legal formats,
strategic focus and human resource profiles, and hence the need to have multiple organisations.
CMS, established in 1994 works to empower development organisations by providing professional
services geared towards impact acceleration of their interventions, maximisation of social returns
on investment and creating shared value. CMS is a private limited company registered under the
Companies Act 1956.
Swasti, established in 2002 achieves public health outcomes for those who are socially excluded
and poor. Swasti is a niche service provider in the public health sector, delivering end-to-end
solutions as well as short and long-term support and facilitation, combining research and practice.
Swasti is a not-for-profit registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1960.
Vrutti is a Centre for Sustainable Livelihoods, enhancing people’s well-being through knowledge,
innovation and transformative actions. Vrutti is registered as a not-for-profit Society in the year
2002 under the Societies Registration Act, 1960.
Fuzhio, established in 2005 facilitates market access to women and small holder farmers and
marginalised communities to maximise returns for their products and services. Fuzhio is registered
as a private limited company registered under the Companies Act 1956.
The Genetic Resource Ecology, Energy and Nutrition Foundation (GREEN Foundation), was
established in 1994 to build a well-preserved ecosystem diversity for sustainable rural livelihoods
of the present generation without eroding the resource base of the future. GREEN Foundation is
registered as a Trust.
The Catalyst Foundation, established in 2016, provides and guides the vision of building health
and wealth of marginalised communities. The Catalyst Foundation is registered as a Trust.

Acknowledgements
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to Pallavi Dhingra, Jovita D’sa and Dion D’Souza,
volunteers from the PwC India Foundation for their contributions towards editing and designing the
contents of this report and Siddhi Mankad from Catalyst Management Services.

Website www.vrutti.org
Google Plus https://plus.google.com/+VruttiOrg
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/vrutti.lh
Twitter https://twitter.com/Vrutti_Catalyst
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/vrutti_lrc/

Annual report 37
 Notes

38 Vrutti
 Office Address
Headquarters
No.25, AECS Layout, Ashwathnagar, Bangalore - 560094
(Land Mark - Behind Paratha Plaza, Raghavendra Nilaya)
P: +91-80-23419616

Regional Office
E-2/244, First Floor, Arera Colony, Madhya Pradesh - 462 016
P: +91-755-4202234

40 Vrutti