Village Level Sustainable Development (VLSD)

A centrepiece of SIBAT's community led approach is the Village level sustainable development (VLSD). It is a model characterized by collective crafting of a community development plan and the pursuit of its objectives by its organized members.

The features of VLSD have been taken from on-the-ground experiences in advancing sustainable agriculture and appropriate technology with NGOs and POs over the years, and are essentially aimed at developing the sustainable resource management capacity of the community around three components:

• sustainable food production [through the community-based sustainable agriculture (CBSA]
• appropriate support infrastructures [through community-based renewable energy systems (CBRES), community water systems development (CWSD)]
• farm-based social enterprises [through community-based enterprise development (CBED)]

CBSA, CBRES, CWSD and CBED are SIBAT's current core programs and are therefore complementary and integral to village level approach to rural development.