The ‘Coalition to Diversify Income through Underused Crops’ (CoDI) sought to improve access to market for resource-poor farmers in India and Vietnam. The project was designed to provide resource-poor farmers with new income opportunities. Funded by Department for International Development (DFID) Research into Use Program (RIU) 2008-2011, the coalition provided community services for production, post-harvest and marketing of underutilized, traditional and niche crops; to help disadvantaged people in India and Vietnam to have better market access for sustainable income generate; and to have more options for better land husbandry.

Project activities included setting up farmer associations; training activities in various aspects of crop production, nursery management, post harvest handling and marketing; assistance with setting up community germplasm orchards and several events for farmer-to-farmer knowledge transfer. In India the project covered, amongst other crops, different varieties of millets (e.g., foxtail (Setaria italica) and kutki (Panicum sumatrense)), black berry (Carissa carandas), cashew apple (Anacardium occidentale), jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus), tamarind (Tamarindus indica), a local variety of paddy (Bangalya rice – Oryza sativa) and jamun (Syzygium cumini). In Vietnam, the underutilised crops basket consisted of Hoa Vang sticky rice (Oryza sativa glutinosa), Thanh Tra pommelo (Citrus grandis), late longan (Dimocarpus longan) and the wild leafy vegetable bo khai (Erythropalum scandens).

Publications

Name	Type of File
CoDI Booklet
Innovation Challenge Fund Full Proposal Application Form
Log Frame
Work Plan
Inception Workshop Report

Partners