Fellowship: Organic Food in India

OVERVIEW

The growth of organic food is a global trend that is slowly but surely finding its way into India. There is a nascent ecosystem of players in India: farmers, consumers, retailers, health and policy experts who are involved in this ecosystem. Progress has been slow so far – hampered by lack of a national policy on organic farming, lobbying by seed and fertilizer / pesticide players, the perception that organic yields are lesser than those that chemical supported agriculture, lack of understanding on the benefits of organic by end consumers etc.

Quicksand hopes to study this context through a multi-disciplinary lens and identify opportunities for innovation – in order to get the organic food ecosystem to flourish within India.

PARTICIPANTS

6-7 Fellows from backgrounds such as design research, communication design, organic farming, and policy studies

SCHEDULE

This fellowship will include a 3-day trip to Bangalore to observe different aspects of organic food in India, concluding with a 2-day synthesis and ideation workshop back in Delhi. Those participants who choose to stay on for the UnBox festival are invited to part of the closed-room workshops around the organic food theme.

Sample itinerary:
Day 1: Observe Organic Farming

Small scale organic farmer
An organic farm run by a professionals from the IT industry

Day 2: Observe Organic Food Delivery Channels

A restaurant that serves only organic food
Meeting with owners / managers of an organic food store

Day 3: Observe Organic Food Consumption, Benefits , Perceptions

House visits to people consuming organic food
Nutritionist and health experts on the benefit of organic food

Day 4: Travel back to Delhi + Break

Synthesis & Ideation (facilitated by Quicksand)

Day 5

Participants will discuss what they discovered about the state of organic farming and organic food consumption and will identify challenges and opportunity areas. Participant notes, rich media shot during the trip will be compiled together.

Day 6

Participants will brainstorm specific conceptual solutions to drive value in the opportunity areas identified on Day 4 and will present these ideas as most suitable: presentations, sketches, video, photo-essays etc.

PROVISIONS

All fellowship participants will be awarded with travel to the workshop site from Delhi, as well as room and board, local travel, and studio space (where required).