The AMMACHI Labs Ocean Farming team recently welcomed Dr. Nambi Appadurai, Chair of the Regional Advisory Committee, and Ms. Asha Hadkar, Regional Coordinator for the Indian Coastal Region, from the GEF Small Grants Programme (Global Environment Facility), for a comprehensive field monitoring visit aimed at assessing community benefits, women’s participation, and ecological impacts of the ongoing ocean-based livelihood initiatives.
Following an initial briefing with the Amrita team, the delegation visited the coastal communities of Munekadu and Soliyakudi, where women beneficiaries from multiple villages shared their experiences. They highlighted how project-led trainings, awareness programs, and value-added product development activities have strengthened their families’ income, skills, and confidence.
The team then traveled by boat to visit the IMTA (Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture) site, the seagrass restoration zone, and seaweed farming rafts. Women proudly showcased their homemade value-added products—including soaps, pickles, and a special Kappaphycus halva—prepared for the occasion.
Beneficiaries shared several challenges they face in sustaining ocean farming activities. These included the need for protective jackets, poya boats, tarpaulins, additional rafts and seeds, low yields from indigenous species, dry-weight loss during processing, fluctuating market prices, and issues with fish grazing on seaweed crops.
The monitoring team acknowledged these difficulties as common in field-based ocean initiatives and assured the community that many issues can be resolved through planning, adaptive strategies, and simple interventions. They encouraged women to explore improvements such as enhanced protective gear, better drying solutions, and natural methods to reduce grazing by fish, while noting that more technical refinements would be integrated in the project’s next phase.
Speaking on the progress, Dr. Appadurai remarked:
“What the Amrita team has achieved within one year shows clear impact, as reflected directly by the beneficiaries. This is not just project implementation—ecological improvement, income generation, and women’s empowerment are being properly addressed.”
AMMACHI Labs expresses sincere gratitude to Dr. Appadurai and Ms. Hadkar for their insightful visit, thoughtful engagement, and guidance that will help shape the future scale-up of the program.
Advancing the UN Sustainable Development Goals
The initiatives align strongly with global development priorities, contributing to:
The Ocean Farming projects are implemented by Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, in partnership with Esri, UNDP, the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEFCC), GEF Small Grants Programme, Transworld, and TERI – The Energy and Resources Institute.
