Genesis of GIAN:

      Honey Bee Network including IIM-A, SRISTI, Gram Vidyapiths, Gujarat Agricultural University, M S University Baroda, IISc, Banglore, LM College of Pharmacy, JRF Vapi, and many other institutions and individuals has been involved in documentation, dissemination, experimentation and value addition in innovations developed by grassroots people on their own. It has developed an unique database of several thousand grassroots innovations in agriculture (herbal pesticides, tilting cart, three wheel tractor, growth regulators, etc.), natural resource management, veterinary and animal husbandry, poultry keeping, farm machinery, fishing, leather processing and vegetative dyes etc. Honey Bee newsletter and its six vernacular language versions have been sharing synoptic information about these innovations among farmers, scientists, academics, voluntary workers, private sector and students across language, cultural and regional boundaries in 75 countries for last eight years. The network is also attempting to protect IPRs of the grassroots innovators and intends to share any benefits accrued from commercialization with original innovators as well as communities conserving biodiversity.

However, despite our best efforts, we could not succeed in scaling up many innovations on large scale through commercial or non-commercial channel so far. It was realized that unless some incentives are generated for commercialization through value addition in innovations, it will be difficult to sustain creativity and ethics of experimentation. It is in this context that an idea of an innovation promotion or venture capital fund for grassroots innovations was conceived.