About Us
Community Enterprise Forum International (CEFI)
Community Enterprise Forum International (CEFI) is a non-profit organization (www.cefi.in) based in New Delhi, India, working across South Asia towards development of primary producers centered “Community Enterprises”. By bringing together business approaches and management processes enabled by latest information communication technologies CEFI is working to make Community Enterprises more competitive in increasingly globalised economy.
Livelihood Resource Centre (LRC)
CEFI in 2005 established the Livelihood Resource Centre (LRC) in Port Blair, Andaman & Nicobar Islands. The primary aim of the centre is to provide livelihood support services aiming at generating employment opportunity in the islands, ensuring sustainability of initiative, resource and environment. LRC is a specialized institution for providing top edge business development and market intelligence support to business and primary producers. LRC has helped generate market intelligence on the islands and have undertaken assessment exercises across the islands for identifying emerging opportunities and attracting investment in the Andaman & Nicobar islands. LRC generates information to translate the opportunity into investment promotion options and long-term income security of people in the islands. LRC also helps build skill sets of the local population to garner benefits from the identified opportunities through enterprises, marketing and resource management. Furthermore, it has evolved into a Knowldege Centre catering to information requirements on livelihoods in the islands.
Rationale
Livelihood opportunities in the island have always been restricted, more by the lack of thought and innovation rather than resources. On one hand while potential in most areas occur in abundance, the tools to utilise them sustainable have been missing.
Andaman and Nicobar Islands are not very different from most of the other island nations they are surrounded by. Except when you have a look at its economy. A moderately educated and trained human resource is available at hand in the islands and yet resources remain unutilized. While only 12 per cent of fishing potential in the islands is utilised, increasing overuse of pesticides is bearing a brunt on the very scarce asset in the island; agricultural land. Tourism, the fledgling of what it could have been suffers due to lack of facilitative infrastructure more than anything else. An administration controlling all facets of the economy without the approach and innovativeness that is required has only made matters worse. Opportunities are drying up in the public sector, which employs more than 85 percent of the working population in the islands.
A&N Islands is at a juncture of rebirth, birth after the Tsunami which ravaged whatever little existed, took more than 3500 lives, permanently ravaged agriculture, dealt an intense blow to a negligible infrastructure and took away tourists.
However the aftermath of the disaster also left behind it opportunities, glimmers of hope to be tagged, opportunities that would have to lead the way to a renewed island.
In an effort to bring the host of experience on identifying the emerging opportunities in the islands and supporting the growth of these opportunities, first National Seminar on Emerging Opportunities in Andaman and Nicobar Islands is being organized by CEFI – LRC (Livelihood Resource Centre set up by CEFI in the A&N islands), in Port Blair on August 27 and 28, 2006.
At this juncture the island would need substantive thought, innovative approach and concerted action
From
- People who can make change happen
- People who have proved it through their approaches and action
- People who are willing to play a key role in the renewed development of the islands
- People who will not just share their thought but also enable them to be put into action in the islands
This National Seminar on Emerging Opportunities in Andaman and Nicobar Islands is where you should be.