Access Development Services

ACCESS Development Services was established as a spin-off of a large successful programme focused on advancing microfinance and small livelihoods in the country. It is a national livelihoods support organization with a focus on incubating innovations for promoting sustainable livelihoods of the poor. ACCESS is structured uniquely, to work at all levels of the value chain  implementing programs on the ground, working with the Government, Multilateral/ Bilateral agencies, Corporate Sector and Civil Society Organisations to improve and enhance their program implementation as also undertaking initiatives to support, inform and influence policies.

Major Interventions:

To achieve outcome based impact, ACCESS pursues a 3-tier approach:

Tier I – Improve value chains through innovation and digitisation:

Gramyashakti is the first large scale women led FPO program aims to provide maximum returns to the producers in agriculture through productivity enhancement, local value addition and better market linkages. The project focuses on strengthening existing farm based livelihood activities by identifying gaps in the value chain of different commodities. An initiative to enable and empower rural poor women to earn aspirational incomes, own and manage successful businesses and become a part of the mainstream economic milieu. The NGO is empanelled as a Cluster Base Business Organisation (CBBO) with all the major implementing agencies viz NABARD, SFAC, NAFED and NCDC under the Central Sector Scheme Formation and Promotion of 10,000 new Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs).

Tier II – Empower stakeholders through capacity building and evidence generation:

ACCESS carried out a policy study during the year titled ‘Integrated Agro-business Infrastructure in Rajasthan’ with the objective to determine possible areas of supply chain investments that could positively impact farmer incomes while increasing the overall resilience of the agriculture sector along with discussions with large and medium private sector companies, financial institutions, NABARD and agri-food startups.

Tier III – Influence narratives through consultations and publications:

The Inclusive Finance India Initiative is a global platform set up by the NGO to support the drive for universal and comprehensive financial inclusion in India through policy dialogue, knowledge dissemination and influencing policy making process. It aims to enable cross-pollination of best practices and breakthroughs to influence India’s Financial Inclusion strategy and campaign. Livelihoods India is another flagship initiative with a focus to understand and assess the challenges that the poor face in sustaining and strengthening their livelihoods thereby bringing together diverse stakeholders on a single platform to discuss critical issues that impede and afflict the livelihoods of the poor.