The Foundation for Rural Recovery and Development (FORRAD) was established in January 1980 as a Public Charitable Trust. Since its inception, our objective has been to promote, support, and coordinate projects that relate to the development of human and natural resources. Over the last 36 years, we have worked with more than 450 grassroots organizations in rural areas spread over Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

As a public charitable trust working in the field of natural resource management and sustainable development, FORRAD pays attention to details that are often overlooked in development work. Equal opportunities between genders, castes and communities; and equal pay for equal work.

The organisation aims to ensure that control over natural resources and technologies associated with their conservation, treatment and supply or availability is vested with rural communities.

Recently FORRAD has broadened its profile, encompassing not just technical aspects, but also towards empowered social change. The organisation recognises that rural women, more than men, feel the burden of depleting natural resources and environmental degradation. While prevailing norms dictate the rules, FORRAD is determined to find alternative methods that incorporate inclusiveness of all peoples and their Human Rights. FORRAD ensures women’s opinions are prioritised; and that women and other vulnerable sections are a part of the decision making process. Although centred on natural resources, FORRAD’s work now also intersects with issues of social justice, empowerment, public health and employment generation.