Global & Local Projects

Our projects focus on introducing appropriate technologies and system-based solutions to build resilient and sustainable food systems. Using local, tailor-made approaches, we work directly with farmers, policymakers and researchers in Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Nepal, and the United States to create effective and lasting agricultural adaptation. Our global development approach can be applied to a multitude of technologies, management practices, and locations. 

Afghanistan

Our Afghanistan projects focus on water management, irrigation, and market development. 

IGATT has three successful programs in Afghanistan focusing on water, livestock, and business development. By focusing on international partnerships and appropriate technologies, we helped build sustainable and scalable agricultural enterprises to grow production for Afghanistan farmers. 
 

Our first project, the Trilateral Water Project was recently completed. Working alongside a team of specialist from the United States, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, IGATT brought key watershed rehabilitation and irrigation technologies to drought-stricken areas. The group formed effective regional partnerships and identified key focus areas in efficient water and soil use and conservation to make higher productivity alongside better conservation a reality for the region. 

Another project in Afghanistan was the Afghanistan Water, Agriculture and Technology Transfer (AWATT) project developed in partnership with New Mexico State University and the USAID/Afghanistan Alternative Development and Agriculture Office (ADAG). Through AWATT, IGATT helped to strengthen the Afghanistan rural economy by identifying employment opportunities and value-added processes to increase income and food production through technology transfer, policy development, and training. Through this, we created land and water policy analytic decision-making tools, technology adaptation and adoption strategies, strengthened the Agriculture Research System Structure, and proposed legal policy frameworks for water and land ownership use and rights.

Our final project, the Cashmere Supply chain enterprise project, involves IGATT working alongside local cashmere goat farmers to build sustainable, replicable, and scalable cashmere demonstration farms for better genetics for color fabric throughout Afghanistan as a viable agricultural option amid the challenges from farm to fashion industry.

 India

We  collaborate with a multitude of organizations in India to increase food security, and new enterprise development. 

In India, IGATT collaborated with the Institute of Food, Energy, and Water Security (IFEWS) at the Gulbarga University on Karnataka, India to develop demonstration and technology transfer farms alongside novel classroom curriculum for the benefit of Karnataka communities. 

To create impact in the Southern region of India, we are creating affordable access to multidisciplinary science and technology education in human nutrition, renewable energy, and water conservation. To advance and promote such education, research and outreach we have created a multidisciplinary incubator lab for appropriate technology transfer in the area to teach researchers, extension agents, and farmers. 

IGATT is also collaborating with the Center for Agriculture Technology Assessment and Transfer (CATAT) of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) in New Delhi to further promote appropriate technology transfer and closely network with the Indo-Israel research and demonstration project and Farmer producer groups (FPGs).

IGATT Founder Dr. Jha has been involved in setting up demonstration farms comprised of open field, drip and furrow irrigation systems, tunnels, insect net houses, naturally ventilated greenhouses, and hi-tech nurseries. Installed centrally in New Dehli, these farms expose farmers from all over India to new technologies for sustainable growth and development.
 

Cultivation of vegetables has been started in these demonstration farms with a diversity of technologies for local farmers to explore and adapt. By providing a variety to choose from, each visiting farmer can choose the technology that best suits their farm, resources, and capabilities to ensure lasting, sustainable benefits in agricultural production, food security, and poverty alleviation. 

IGATT is also building agriculture innovation platform in India as a multi-disciplinary center to support agriculture development projects in South Asia and Eastern Asia.

In Nepal, we work with our partners over last 8 years to study and combat the affects of climate change, biodiversity, and women enterprise development. Through our demonstration project, real time weather station data was first collected from villages and considered for decision making and intervention. IGATT has also organized an international conference in Nepal on livelihood and climate smart  agriculture and built a pipeline for the technology transfer between India and Nepal.

Increased population, urbanization, industrialization, and agricultural activities have increased the gap between water demand and supply. Despite the growing water scarcity, farmers often continue to use inefficient conventional methods of irrigation. There is a great opportunity and need to share the knowledge and use of improved land and water conservation and management techniques with farmers, extension officers, and policymakers. IGATT is working to do just that.

IGATT supported groups in the Middle East to demonstrate and disseminate best management practices for land and water conservation. We have hosted exchange visits between South Asian agricultural researchers and U.S. research universities, such as through our On-Farm Water Management training and the Borlaug Fellowship Program at Colorado State University partnership. We've also taken our knowledge directly to Pakistan through workshops and training held at extension centers with USAID. 

For example, with Colorado State University, IGATT held two workshops in South Asia in 2013. Topics taught included "Incorporating Agricultural Service Providers into Demonstration and Dissemination Activities" and "Incorporating Digital Video and Electronic Tools for Demonstration and Dissemination". With these initiatives, officials can share evidence-based best management practices and improved technologies for irrigation and watershed management with rural farmers. 

In the Trilateral Working Group on "Watershed Rehabilitation and Irrigation technologies" along with Afghanistan other countries also participated from South Asia. Here, we focused on on-farm water use efficiency, improved water conveyance, small water storage structures, and watershed rehabilitation through our regional partnerships. 

You Can Help IGATT Mission's and  Work through your generous support: DONATE