Community Wellbeing at Keystone

The programmes and interventions are designed by viewing “wellbeing” as a concept beyond the set parameters of Human Development Index and through various lenses like livelihood outcomes and political autonomy and its implications on traditional knowledge systems and cultural practices as well as on the mental and physical health of indigenous communities.

Components

Community wellbeing is achieved only when the economic, social, physical, psychological, political and cultural conditions of every individual in the community are satisfied. The programme components represent these elements of wellbeing and interventions are designed accordingly by prioritising gender inclusivity, climate change and sustainable outcomes.

Traditional Livelihoods

Facilitating farm- and forest-based livelihoods for indigenous communities. Pro-environment and gender-inclusive approaches contribute to food, economic security as well as enabling farmer linkages to local enterprise and market opportunities. Designing farm-based livelihood options for landless farmers and creating local economies, short supply chains through bio-input production and centralised, cluster-level nurseries that can raise cash crop saplings.

Environmental Governance

Based on the belief that land tenure and property rights are paramount to sustainable livelihoods, wellbeing and pro-conservation outcomes, the programme identifies and nurtures local leadership, develop capacities to govern and make decisions that have long-term socio-economic and political implications for the communities, facilitate Forest Rights Act claims and develop capacities for advocacy by strengthening community voices.

Community Health & Wellness

Ensuring improved health outcomes among communities through preventive health care by promoting better nutritional practices, bridging the gap in accessing timely health care and awareness generation through community health workers. We also identify and train frontline health workers to develop local capacities for sustained efforts on preventive health interventions.

Current Projects

Improving the Livelihoods, Health and Wellness of Marginalized Farmers

Based on economic and environmental vulnerability, the project focuses on improving the livelihoods, health and wellness of marginalised, rural farmers in Malappuram and Wayanad districts. Our approach includes the lens of climate change. This duration of this project is 2022-2027.

Strengthening Farm-based Livelihoods

This project focuses on strengthening the local economy by way of promoting farm-based livelihoods through the production of climate-resilient foods and cash crops, which are linked to farmer enterprises. This project is active in the Coimbatore and Nilgiris districts from 2022 to 2025.

Strengthening Community Wellbeing in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve

The project focuses on ensuring land tenure and developing appropriate practices for food sovereignty, health and nutrition among indigenous communities in 104 villages in Aracode, Konnavakarai, Coonoor, Sigur, Pillur and Hasanur. Milestones we are working towards include improving and strengthening social, economic, political and cultural conditions. The duration of this project is 2019-2022.

Strengthening Community-based Environmental Governance Systems in the Western Ghats

The project is running in Pillur, Aracode Konovakkarai, Coonoor, Sigur and Nilambur, wherein the main goal is to ensure tribal communities engaged in sustainable agriculture have improved access to water, other natural resource management capacities and access to NTFPs through secured forest tenures. The duration of this project is 2017-2022.

Unpacking Indigenous Self-Governance Amidst FRA: Comparative Insights from Nilambur and Sigur

This project aims to assess the formal and informal workings of the state, local institutions and community members to determine how local democratic systems work, abd implications on the implementation of the Forest Rights Act. For this, a comparative-analysis of Sigur and Nilambur is being done. The duration of this project is 2021-2022.

RISE World Summit 2022

Jyotsna partook as a panelist that discussed "Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems"

Inauguration of the Global Sanitation Center of Excellence

.
GSCOE is a center for collaborative and sustainable innovation, incubation, scaling manufacturing, skill development, training showcase and deployment of Sanitation solutions