GLIDE - Genesis and Journey

Since 2003, OASiS Social Innovations Lab has been a designer and developer of new age approaches, to solve critical socio-economic-ecological issues affecting society. With a time-tested proven approach to social innovations, in 2017, we started looking for an issue, that was expected to grow exponentially in the coming years.
Climate change had started showing its ugly face then, and was being termed as the next great challenge, attracting global attention. SDGs were losing focus to Climate Change Goals, countries with highest abuse to the planet, were trying to hide their sins behind developing countries, luring them towards trading their climate protection efforts, in exchange of carbon credits, corporates were eyeing business opportunities, and CSOs were eyeing funds for climate redressal and protection. Climate change was becoming a new industry, getting crowded with climate and environment consultants, bringing more advisors than doers.
We sensed the clutter, and realised that despite the buzz, climate change will not take long to grow enormously. 

What required immediate attention was, Adaptation to Climate Change, so that the pain is not difficult to bear. Deciding to take this path, we tried to find the community that is first affected by climate change. Obviously it turned out to be the Farmers, who were not only the first, but the worst affected too. It was evident that they were losing their yields, and farming was their only livelihood. Not only they, but their cattle also depended on the yields for food. Reducing yields and losing livelihoods, was leading to gradual increase in family migrations.
Like other CSOs, we too thought that better agricultural techniques can reduce losses. We too focussed on agri, but soon discovered that there were many agri scientists already working on this. So we changed our focus towards addressing their loss of primary livelihood, through secondary (additional / alternate livelihoods). But we found this space to be full as well, with both CSOs and CSRs vying to create additional livelihoods for them. 

And then something caught our attention.
Despite promises of high returns, the farmers were getting only their labour cost. Their livelihoods looked like owned by someone else. After deep probing, we found that almost all secondary livelihoods were designed by the CSO/CSR Teams, including identifying products, providing skill training to rural folks, provide them raw material inputs, helping them get loans, and after quality check, selling their products online and offline, maintain accounting, etc. What was happening?

• Bulk buyers and Urban markets were considered premium and promising, ensuring higher returns.

• Rural livelihoods were getting dependent on urban markets and demands. Variations in urban demand was leading to loss of livelihoods for rural people. Also urban customers had no brand loyalty for rural products.

• Rural livelihoods were getting dependent on the CSOs for everything, getting only the labour cost, as the entire promised premium was spent on packaging, reach out, selling and distribution.

• Aggregation of farm produce for bulk selling through FPOs, was expected to fetch high prices through negotiations, but was instead reducing cost of procurement for the Corporates. Also FPOs were becoming one stop shop for Agri Inputs selling by the Corporates. The Corporates were benefitting more than the Farmers.

We realised that this approach was not sustainable for long, and decided to look the other way. We wondered that if 60 percent of our population is still living in rural India, how are their needs met? A closer look at the village shops opened our eyes, as we found them completely packed with packaged FMCG goods. 

We wondered that if rural markets did not have any demand or money, what were these FMCGs doing there? 

Then as we scrambled data, and read reports, we found that FMCGs were getting between 30%-40% of their sales from Rural Markets. WHAT? And then as we looked into their annual sale revenues, we could not believe our eyes.
We wondered how and why did CSOs not discover this gold mine? Probably they were always made to believe that Rural areas are poor, and that is why CSOs are there. We also got to hear, that the data of funded studies on rural population, was somehow reaching the FMCGs, to help them design their rural marketing strategies. As we wondered how this mess got created, we found the Facilitator and biggest hidden beneficiary of this mess. It was a Partner in hiding, encouraging and facilitating everything, and enjoying its cut, in the form of GST.
And with this, we also found the source of all Freebies. We laughed at the urban literate, who were made to believe that their hard earned Income Tax was being spent as freebies to the poor, making them lazy.
The picture became clear. WHAT A MESS the CSOs had got into. Probably they did not know either.

The growing problem and the huge hidden opportunity, made us think out of the box, and come up with a solution, that could help rural populations and CSOs come out of this mess, regain control of the rural markets, help rural populations redesign their livelihoods to overcome the impact of climate change, conserve and nurture natural resources, establish a circular rural economy, and arrest migration. 

GLIDE was born. Going through our social innovation process, followed by a series of negative brainstorming sessions, we finally had GLIDE on paper. Now we had to pilot it somewhere, to see, if it works.

During the same time, we had won an award from Hewlett Packard (US) and Sri Aurobindo Society, for our idea on Rural Education GRAMODAYA. The award was given to 3 ideas that had huge potential, and required prototyping. The award was given to pilot our ideas, and share them with the world.
We wanted to select the most difficult area to pilot it.
Coincidentally at the same time, our friend Sikha Roy of SRREOSHI, also an Ashoka Fellow based in Durgapur, WB, was planning to move from land rights, to education and livelihoods, for the families whom she had got land rights, and wanted our support. We asked her to select the most difficult zone in her geography, and she chose arid Bankura District (famous for terracotta horses).

We found it a good opportunity to Pilot GLIDE along with GRAMODAYA (our Rural Education model), in the region. For GRAMODAYA, we chose a village with a Middle School (till Grade 8), and with access to Govt welfare departments and works.

For GLIDE, we chose a Maoist affected Forest Village, called Ramarbhui. The reason behind it, was to check whether GLIDE worked, where even the Govt could not. The village had a population of 141 households, with only 1 Tubewell, and a Primary school (with a local Teacher). Being a forest village, land was limited, and land division over generations, had left each household with only 1.5 acres. Small ponds used to dry up within a couple of months after monsoon. Being maoist affected, neither the Govt was doing anything, nor the Maoists. Every day 2 Trucks used to come, and Villagers queued up to rush, as getting into the truck ensured the day's wages. During the day, only very senior citizens, kids and cattle remained. The nearest weekly market was 3.5 kms away, and villagers used to go in the evening, to buy unsold vegetables at a lesser price.

We started testing GLIDE, initially with a few interested youth (men and women). Slowly the other youth and newly married women got interested, and joined. We worked with them for about 5-6 months, with 6 active groups producing and selling their products locally, handholding them at each step. And once we were confident that they can do it on their own, we asked them if they could continue, without us around. We promised to come back after a year, to see whether they have been able to pull it off, on their own. The litmus test of sustainability, lies in checking whether the community can do it itself. However, we remained connected on phone, to guide them on the accounting, and keep them motivated.

ONE YEAR from the GLIDE Pilot:
With a lot of skepticism, doubts and inner fear, we went after a year, to see what was happening. To our first surprise, the Trucks were not visible. We enquired and found that they had stopped coming, as the number of persons boarding the trucks dwindled. A bigger surprise was waiting for us. Migration had become Zero. We pinched ourselves to believe it, as we never knew of any model, that had arrested migration 100%. When we asked the youth what happened, they simply said "Why go with the trucks and get exploited, when we are getting the same amount and more with these livelihoods, without going out of the village?". For them it was simple, but for us it was a great milestone.
But we decided not to get too excited by the results, and wait for one more year, to see if it continues without any telephonic help or support. We decided to go back, and visit again after one more year. We told the villagers to call us, only if they face any conflict.

TWO YEARS from the GLIDE Pilot:
With no phone calls during the year, we went this time with far more skepticism and fear. The news of our visit brought smiling faces together. To our surprise, the livelihoods were continuing and growing in volumes, value and numbers. And remember the weekly market, from where they once bought unsold products at lesser cost? These groups were now selling their products at these weekly market, and had progressed from just being a poor customer, to an active seller. Only 1 boy who got a job as Patwari (handling land records) in the neighbouring Panchayat, had left the village. Rest there was no migration. What was more exciting to see that the boys were now getting married easily, and their newly married brides were encouraged to join the work.

Eureka ! The GLIDE Pilot was 100% successful. Meanwhile our GRAMODAYA (Rural Education model) had completed 2 years as well, and the successful students were getting local employment in Welfare Departments, NGOs, local Private Hospitals, etc. The GRAMODAYA Pilot was successful too.  

Much credit  goes to Sikha and her SRREOSHI Team, for handholding and acting as a support system for both the Pilots. Sikha had finally got both education and livelihood solutions, for her land-rights beneficiaries' families.
We were so elated with two successfully piloted Models together, that we wanted to develop frameworks immediately, and share them with all CSOs. 

We first documented the GRAMODAYA Model, as we had to send utilisation reports to Sri Aurobindo Society and Hewlett Packard, for the Award money. After completing their modalities, we got down to document GLIDE, and spread it to the world. And then COVID struck, bringing the world to a halt, and panic forced all of us to shift complete focus, to address local needs and problems. Multiple relapses of Covid variants kept us busy throughout, but also gave spaces in between, to think about the pending jobs.

During those spaces, we reflected back on the GLIDE journey, and found that this was a model, that created a mindset shift among Villagers, and even CSOs. We also realised that this mindset shift cannot happen by just sharing a framework, and expecting the CSOs to go through it on their own. It required a handholding, to make it happen. So during the Covid lockdown, we curated a Workshop around the model, to enable the mindset shift, and take it upto the level of implementation on the ground. After multiple iterations, the workshop modules were ready. But the workshop had to be tested as well on the ground, to see its effectiveness.

After Covid restrictions were relaxed a bit, our friend Vijay Bharatiya (fondly called Vijay bhai) offered to speak to an organisation, to pilot the GLIDE workshop. Jeevan Teerth, a CSO founded by Senior Ashoka Fellows Raju bhai and Deepti ben, headquartered in Gandhinagar Gujarat, organised the Pilot workshop in two places : Village Golana in Khambaat, and a Tribal forest village in Dediapada district. The workshops were highly successful, with few impromptu tweaks, based on situations and responses, which we documented. Initially designed as a 2 day workshop, we extended it to 3 days, and then added a Field Visit, to relate it to the local context.

Post the successful pilot, we offered the GLIDE Workshop to all CSOs. The workshop design was kept simple, not requiring huge funds, and worked on Gift Economy, so that we could reach all rural communities through their CSOs.
But the problem was how to manage travel and workshops along with our present work. So one among us took an exit from the Executive Body, and offered himself to this cause, for the benefit of society. 

From August 2023, GLIDE stared gliding across the country.