Meghalaya’s NESFAS Wins Global Innovation Award at UN’s World Food Forum

Meghalaya-based The North East Society for Agroecology Support (NESFAS) was among three global laureates selected from a pool of 360 applicants to receive the prestigious Global Innovation Award at the World Food Forum, at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) in Rome, Italy.

The recognition, awarded under the category “When farmers lead innovation! 2025 Innovation award on farmer field school for sustainable agrifood systems”, highlights NESFAS’ pioneering Agroecology Learning Circles (ALC) model as an example of community-led innovation in agroecology.

ALCs are community-governed platforms that integrate scientific and Indigenous knowledge to promote biodiversity, sustainable food production, and local innovation.

“This honour belongs to the 600 communities who have journeyed with

NESFAS. When we brought 169 Indigenous Peoples' groups from 63 countries together at the Indigenous Terra Madre in 2015, we dreamed of a shared path forward. It’s heartening to see that dream taking shape through the very communities that inspired it,” NESFAS Founding Chairperson,

Phrang Roy said.

The ALC model, developed after the Indigenous Terra Madre 2015 gathering in Shillong, which united 169 indigenous groups from 63 countries, draws from global farmer movements such as La Via Campesina.

Supported by Farmer Field School pioneer Dr. Kevin Gallagher and agroecologist Dr. Francisco Rosado May, NESFAS began establishing ALCs in collaboration with local communities.

NESFAS currently operates 100 Agroecology Learning Circles across 100 villages, engaging over 2,000 members, of whom 83 per cent are women and youths.

With the support of REC, the World Bank, and MBMA, NESFAS currently operates 100 Agroecology Learning Circles across 100 villages, engaging over 2,000 members, of whom 83 per cent are women and youths.

The ALC network has also achieved notable outcomes, supporting the upgradation of 210 People’s Biodiversity Registers, which led to the development of People’s Perspective Landscape Management Plans to guide conservation and natural resource governance at the landscape level.