BAIF Development Research Foundation is a reputed civil society organisation in India committed to rural livelihoods and climate mitigation. With development research as its plank for transforming the lives of underprivileged rural families, BAIF has been promoting sustainable livelihoods, fostering environmental stewardship and enhancing the overall quality of life of rural communities over the last 57 years. BAIF has been impacting the lives of about 4 million families across 100,000 villages in 14 states of India through sustainable land, livestock and water-based livelihood programmes and carbon smart and carbon neutrality programmes every year. The livelihood and climate action programmes of BAIF are contributing more than USD 2.5 billion per annum to the rural economy. The outcomes are directly aligned with Sustainable Development Goals 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 and 13. More information available here.
In the following statement by their Programme Director & Regional Director - East, BAIF emphasizes the critical importance of energy security and the transformative potential of decentralized renewable energy solutions. With BAIF's extensive grassroots presence and commitment to promoting bioenergy innovations, their collaboration with WBA promises to enhance advocacy, share best practices, and drive positive change in the bioenergy sector.
"Energy security is crucial for India to traverse a robust and sustainable growth trajectory. The challenges of substantial unmet energy demand, dependence on fossil fuels and inefficient use of biomass, can be surmounted with the adoption of decentralized renewable energy solutions. As India is endowed with immense renewable energy generation potential, it can catalyse seamless transition to a green economy with this approach of localized clean energy generation and consumption. The model aligns greatly with the core principles of our Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC).
BAIF, with its extensive grassroots presence in 100,000 villages, possesses the ability to facilitate dissemination of decentralized renewable energy applications in a holistic manner. Livestock development being the core programme, BAIF has been actively engaged in promoting bioenergy and encouraging innovations for developing scalable and replicable models.
BAIF firmly believes that WBA with its strong network, can be an excellent global platform for learning and sharing emerging developments and best practices in the domain. Alignment of common objectives can create synergies for developing strategic insights, exploring collaborations and leveraging new opportunities. Contributions to policy advocacy at the national and international levels can be enriched through the collective resolve of the network. The association, through its members, can play a pivotal role in enabling wider adoption of bioenergy and positive transformation of the sector." - Rakesh K. Warrier, Programme Director & Regional Director - East at BAIF.