Who We Are

An independent research organisation committed to multidisciplinary theoretical and empirical enquiry in agrarian studies

In practice, the Foundation is a network of academics and other scholars, including faculty members and research fellows at the Indian Statistical Institute, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, and other institutions. The office of the Foundation was located in Kolkata from 2005 through November 2012. It is now located in Bangalore. The small whole-time research staff works from this office.

The Foundation for Agrarian Studies (FAS) is a charitable trust established in 2003 and based in Bengaluru, India. As an independent research organisation, FAS is committed to facilitating multi-disciplinary theoretical and empirical enquiry in agrarian studies in India and other less-developed countries. It works as a network of a wide section of people interested in the agrarian question, including academic and other scholars, policy professionals, and members of mass organisations working in the countryside. The Foundation collaborates with young researchers and students, senior scholars, leading academic institutions, donor agencies, and governmental and intergovernmental organisations interested in different socio-economic aspects of rural life in India.

Since 2005, a major activity of the Foundation has been an India-wide programme of village studies, titled the Project on Agrarian Relations in India. The project involves description and analysis, and the creation of a detailed database on village India in diverse agro-ecological and socio-economic regions of the country.

Our Network

In practice, the Foundation is a network of academics and other scholars from across the world.

What We Do

FAS studies the complex realities of rural India through rigorous, long-term fieldwork. The following are some of the unique initiatives and research contributions that the Foundation has undertaken and continues to pursue.

Science and Technology

The agrarian structure plays a critical role in shaping the adoption of modern technologies and their implications. Science and technology has the potential to bring about progressive social change in the countryside.

Rural Labour Force

Wage rates in rural India are stagnating for more than a decade in real prices, across regions and gender. There are no pure agricultural wage workers in rural India, with most workers engaged in both agricultural and non-agricultural activities. This reflects the inability of agriculture alone to absorb the rural workforce.

Women in Rural Economies

Women in rural India are not withdrawing from the labour force. They deploy their labour very differently from men. The gender wage gap continues to persist in rural India, and women face significant disadvantages in accessing credit.

Small-scale Farming

Small farmer households in India are unable to generate adequate incomes to maintain a minimum standard of living. Public policy support is urgently needed to deliver economies of scale to small farmers. Small farmers engage with input outcome and labour markets.

What Guides Us

We study the changing rural production and society through evidence-based research. Some of the major themes that have been studied by the Foundation in the recent past include the state of the small farm economy in India, women’s work in rural economies, employment and wage rates in the countryside, village panchayat-level databases and the socio-economic characteristics of Dalit households.

Mission

Scientific study of the socio-economic conditions in contemporary rural India
Understand the interplay of agricultural science and technology, and society in India

Vision

To build a lasting archive and body of knowledge that provides a detailed and objective picture of the Indian countryside at the turn of the 21st century
To engage in scientific research that can inform evidence-based policy aimed towards progressive transformation of rural India

Funding

Our work is supported through a mix of institutional grants, research partnerships, and project-based funding. We maintain transparency and independence in our research processes, ensuring credibility and integrity in all our outputs.”

Spectrum of Partners

The Foundation is supported by

Bilateral and other international donors
State and Central Government institutions
CSR donations
Intergovernmental organisations
Leading Universities in India and abroad