LEISA India is the regional Indian edition of Agricultures Network of the global LEISA magazines (www.theagriculturesnetwork.org). LEISA India is published by AME Foundation (www.amefound.org) in collaboration with ILEIA (1999-2011) and MISEREOR (From 2011 onwards).
AME Foundation is a development-oriented, non-government organization, committed to improving the livelihoods of resource poor farm families in the dry land areas through promotion of ecological agriculture. Towards this objective, AME works with the small and marginal farmers of the Deccan Plateau region by generating farming alternatives, enriching the knowledge base, training, linking development agencies and sharing experience.
AME promotes LEISA technologies (Low External Input Sustainable Agriculture) through participatory capacity building processes and experience sharing. It encourages farm level innovations through the processes of Participatory Technology Development (PTD) and Farmers Field Schools (FFS). AME fosters institutional linkages and promotes networking with a number of development organizations, particularly at the grass root level, to scale up its activities. AME promotes information sharing through documentation and dissemination of relevant information.
LEISA India, is one such initiative that has evolved into a meaningful platform for sharing eco-farming alternatives. It reaches a large number of people through exchange of information on practical field experiences on Low External Input and Sustainable Agriculture. The magazine reaches NGOs, development workers, research institutions, academics and the government and is well appreciated.
In India, ‘LEISA movement of practice’ is being strengthened through consortium and alliances.
LEISA India Consortium
For enhancing information exchange on LEISA, a LEISA India consortium was forged. Presently, the partners of the consortium include AME Foundation; Gorakhpur Environmental Action Group; LEISA Network, TN; ORRISSA, Mitramadhyama, Kheti Virasat Mission and Yuva Rural Association and a few enthusiastic individuals. To know more about our institutional consortium partners, click here.
The consortium is producing special translated editions through support of individual LEISA enthusiasts, existing and new partners. The language editions and the individuals/institutions involved, is mentioned in brackets. Hindi (GEAG); Tamil (Kudumbam, LEISA network TN); Oriya(ORRISSA); Punjabi (Kheti Virasat Mission), Marathi (Yuva Rural Association).
The following team members are involved in the program:
- Chief Editor: K.V.S Prasad
- Managing Editor: T.M.Radha
- Translation coordinator: Veena
- Secretary: G G Rukmini
- Designers: Jayaraj (English), Vasanth K (Tamil), Shiva Prasad K (Kannada), Jagadeesh/Kishore (Telugu), Raj Kanthi Gupta (Hindi), ORRISSA (Oriya)
- Translators: Ms. Hema S (Kannada), Ms. Archana Srivastava, GEAG (Hindi), Suresh Kanna & Lalitha N (Tamil), Ramaseshu S (Telugu), ORRISSA (Oriya), YRA (Marathi), KVM (Punjabi)
AgriCultures Network
The Agricultures Network envisages a world where in ecologically sound family farming is widely recognized as the foundation for resilient rural livelihoods and a sustainable global society. Small scale family farmers – women and men – produce adequate supplies of food and commodities for themselves and for local, regional and global markets. They are recognized and rewarded for being solution providers in the context of global challenges: hunger, poverty, climate, change and environmental degradation.
The Agricultures Network facilitates practice-based knowledge building on sustainable small-scale family farming and a wide dissemination of such knowledge, both at local and global levels. Connecting different stakeholders and different types of knowledge, it contributes to society-wide learning and to up scaling and replication of sustainable farming practices and approaches. Members of the network actively exchange experiences and know-how, considering the following critical dimensions: policy and institutions, markets, human, social and cultural capital, science and technology, and natural resources and climate.
The worldwide AgriCultures network, the foundations of which were laid by ILEIA in 1997, consists of organisations from across the world – ILEIA, ETC-A in Peru, AME Foundation in India, IED Afrique in Senegal, AS-PTA in Brazil, and MELCA in Ethiopia. Each partner publishes a regional edition of LEISA Magazine.
Presently, IED Afrique (Senegal) is the Secretariat of the Agricultures Network.