The Kudumbam NGO drives large-scale change by investing in, connecting, and celebrating social entrepreneurs and innovators who help them solve the world’s most pressing problems.
About Kudumbam NGO
Kudumbam was founded in 1982 by Mr. Oswald Quintal, Dr.Nammalvar and Mr.Perianayagasamy when rural Tamil Nadu, India was passing through an agricultural crisis. The trade-off from the "Green revolution" in the 1960s led to a shift in land use from diverse cropping systems, to monocultures with heavy application of chemical pesticides and fertilizers. Irrigation slowly led to the depletion of ground water, and small farmers becoming more marginalized.
Kudumbam (family) is the smallest social unit where the talents and limitations are recognized equally, to design the individuals' dignified destiny in the socialization process. Kudumbam then started sensitizing rural communities on the rights to community water bodies, and the benefits of drought tolerant traditional crop varieties. We identified rural "change makers" and facilitated community participation in deepening and managing of traditional seed banks, community water tanks, raising of tree nurseries and re-establishing of community forests. Feminisation of poverty was addressed through inclusive gender equality pro poor and pro women programmes.
Kudumbam NGO to help drive significant and lasting impact on the world.
Vision
Our vision is to strengthen vulnerable communities through the building of a multi-stakeholder partnership for the preservation and regeneration of native flora and fauna, in order to ensure a sustainable rural livelihood and create environmentally benign and socially just bio villages.
Mission
To ensure community's participation in establishing enhanced biodiversity at farm and village level, and to give the communities the right to seeds, land, water and other productive resources enriching agriculture and bring in sustainable food systems.
Establishment of an Ecological farm
In 1990, we established a 30 acre dry land ecological farm cum training centre with model on building soil health and water harvesting methods, agro forestry, animal crop integration, preparation and use of bio-inputs and value addition of agro produces. The prime objective in establishing these models is to motivate farmers in the neighbourhood villages to replicate and thereby re-establish their faith in dry land farming. It has always been Dr. Nammalvar's dream that Rain Fed Farmers and University involved in documenting and experimenting Sustainable Agricultural practices should come together, identify key issues in Seed Production, Soil Fertility Management, Water Conservation, Pest Management and value addition and try to evolve strategies to upscale Sustainable Techniques.
Organizational Structure:
- General Body – 25 members
- Executive Committee – 11 members
- Trichy Coordinating Office: - 12 Staff
- Kolunji Farm: - 17 Staff
- Tranqubar Office: - 7 Staff
- Veilankanni Office: - 5 Staff
- Mathur centre: - 5 Staff