Swaniti Initiative

The organization received a grant to establish a sustainable and scalable model of carbon dioxide removal through enhanced rock weathering technique along with co-benefits to marginal farmers in the global south. Project mati was conceived as a pilot project in the year 2022 to address the challenges faced by marginal farmers in the context of climate change. Enhanced rock weathering (erw) holds great potential as a tool for carbon removal and empowering paddy farmers in india. Erw process offers a promising solution by leveraging natural processes to sequester carbon, improve soil fertility, and enhance crop yields. Erw involves the application of crushed rocks, such as basalt, on agricultural fields. As these rocks weather over time, they naturally absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and lock it away in the form of stable carbonates. The weathering of rocks releases essential minerals and nutrients into the soil, replenishing nutrient levels and improving soil health. This leads to increased nutrient availability for crops, resulting in higher yields and improved productivity for paddy farmers. Mati carbons mission is to scale carbon removal in rice fields by enhanced weathering. The mati process leverages naturally occurring silicate rocks weathering phenomenon by accelerating the process many orders of magnitude to allow for carbon removal to occur in just a few years. Mati offers several benefits based on carbon removal in paddy agriculture fields, particularly for marginalized farmers in india. The key advantages include carbon removal, increased soil fertility, reduced need for chemical fertilizers, soil acidification mitigation and climate resilience. Mati carbons enhanced rock weathering (erw) based carbon removal project followed a systematic methodology, ensuring efficient farmer enrollment and targeting the whole community rather than a few big farmers. Through community outreach, capacity-building, and knowledge-sharing platforms, we empowered farmers to implement erw techniques effectively and embrace sustainable agriculture practices. By adhering to a structured approach and maintaining a strong monitoring and evaluation framework, we maximized the impact of erw on carbon removal, soil fertility improvement, and crop yields, contributing to a more sustainable agricultural system and benefitted farmers and the community at large. We used a proprietary logistics platform and technology stack to enable our deployments. The following objectives were accomplished during different cropping cycles in the project area duly validating our methodologies and mrv techniques. Mati carbon project was validated as a true application of high tech mrv and latest carbon removal science in rural paddy fields which enabled farmers with better crop productivity and livelihood generation. We have been able to equip farmers with the necessary knowledge and ensured the wider dissemination of new technology for sustainable agriculture, fostering a more resilient and environmentally conscious farming community. These benefits support the sustainable development and well-being of marginalized farmers, empowering them to combat climate change and enhance their livelihoods.

The organization received a grant to accomplish the following goals. 1.increased budget allocation committed by the district administration yoy on climate sensitive projects in three years, inr 188.35 crores have been mobilized from more than 10 funding sources. In the first year of the programme (january 2021-december 2021), there were 7 funding sources through which a total of inr 44.68 crores were mobilised. In the second year (till december 2022), additionally, 3 more funding sources at the district level were tapped into viz., mukhiya fund, mp-mla lads and funds with the forest office, making the total upto inr 54.64 crores. In the third year, the major sources of funds up to now are jreda, csr and sca, mgnrega amounting to a total of inr 89.03 crores. Further, through the associates support, the 15th finance commission, zilla parishad fund, funds with niti aayog, mp-mla lads and jslps are being tapped into for the development of the current initiatives. The increased mobilization of jredas funds over the years can be attributed to a higher uptake of solar interventions at the districts due to an enhanced scheme delivery. Further, need based initiatives which have scaled up over the past year including interventions beyond renewable energy like water conservation, and livelihood generation, have been implemented through the mobilization of the funds available at district level. 2.the jh-reset programme assisted in mobilizing government funds. Following are the intervention wise funds mobilised towards solar and other sustainable initiatives: a)solar water pumps: through the jh-reset intervention, funds have been mobilized through the pm-kusum scheme covering all the districts. B)solar lights: through the jh-reset intervention, the implementation process of solar high mast lights and solar streetlights was completed. For the implementation of streetlights, different government funding sources were tapped into including mp-mla lads, divisional forest office and rurban mission. C)rooftop solar installation and unelectrified villages: the implementation and repair and maintenance process of the rooftop solar pv systems across public assets covering educational, administrative and health institutions. Further, implementation support was provided to electrify 51 villages, which amounted to a mobilization of inr 4.73 crore. D)sustainable transportation: funds to distribute 395 e-scooters to auxiliary nurse and midwife (anm) ensuring last mile connectivity for public health services and reduced expenditure and fuel consumption.

Swaniti was able to support the staffing requirements of 25 parliamentarians to drive the air quality issues in their respective constituencies, sensitize them with the help of external experts on various emerging issues having linkages with the subject and it was all coordinated by a delhi office based team. The project witnessed multiple groundbreaking innovations in the constituencies of parliamentarians. The activities under the project ranged from community awareness to the parliamentarians' oversight of efficient usage of government resources for better program delivery. Some specific deliverables of the period are mentioned below: a knowledge workshop on the surat emissions trading scheme: learning from indias first pollution market was attended by 6 parliamentarians on 17th december, 2022 at gandhinagar, gujarat. The secretariat facilitated the placement of 25 clean air associates under the mentorship of parliamentarians, crucial in supporting honble mps in their air quality endeavors. Between july 2022 and june 2023, the associates along with the secretariat produced 168 policy briefs or documents. Review of national clean air program (ncap) and other programs having components of air quality in 09 district development coordination and monitoring committees (disha committees) meetings by the parliamentarians training of media personnel (june 2023): parliamentarian anchored a capacity building workshop on air pollution reporting in june 2023 to produce an informed group of journalists who would create constructive narratives while reporting on air pollution and allied issues. Five local innovation systems were created by 5 parliamentarians in their respective constituencies, with the support of the clean air associates to address the local air quality issues. The efforts of parliamentarians leading to the publication of the air quality data of a state pollution control board: parliamentarians have taken several steps for transparency in areas where such data was not being displayed. For instance, in one constituency, a parliamentarian ensured the public visibility of uniform aqi data by requesting it from the state pollution control board. The board acted promptly by rectifying the data and communicated the same to honble mp. Engaging youth and children in the pursuits of clean air: 6 parliamentarians, spearheaded various initiatives to engage youth and children in their constituencies. Yuva tourism clubs, climate warrior program and yuva tourism club, and paryavaran rakshak program are few examples of exemplary work undertaken by the parliamentarians with support of associates to engage youth and children

Swaniti Initiative is a social enterprise supporting government administration and elected representatives to ensure last-mile public service delivery and policy reforms. The organization receives grants from other organizations to complete projects on energy transition, green recovery, sustainable planning and green livelihood. The organization also works with state governments and local bodies for reengineering scheme implementation strategies to ensure the expansion of social security coverage to unskilled migrant workers and vulnerable groups annd to enhance the efficiency of development planning processes.