Satish Patnaik

Satish Patnaik, an agriculture engineer, started his career as a Development Practitioner in PRADAN in 2005. He is currently based in Sambalpur and supports partnership with 9 partner NGOs in 5 districts of western Odisha. He has worked in rural tribal belts of Odisha for ten years. He has also worked in the human resource development unit of PRADAN and supported the Development Apprenticeship Programme. Later, he anchored action research in partnership with Azim Premji University as Team Coordinator in the Research and Advocacy Unit of PRADAN for one year.
August 23, 2021
Adivasis-their-Universe-and-Me

Adivasis, their Universe and Me

Recognizing and respecting the enormous wisdom of the adivasis and the age-old ways they care for the ecosystem while sustaining themselves will go a long way in supporting us to use our resources judiciously. Any sweeping changes imposed on them without an understanding of this delicate balance will have disastrous consequences on humankind and our planet
May 18, 2020

A Walk through the Jungle

Realizing the compelling need of understanding the relationship between the jungle and the people who live off it, Azim Premji University and PRADAN began a four-year course in Adaptive Skilling through Action Research—an attempt to understand these complex socio-ecological systems and arrive at development strategies, which encompassed an exploration of the jungle as a reservoir of ethno-medicines, as a school for the younger generation, and as a source of rejuvenation of bio-diversity
November 19, 2019

Mentoring in Civil Society Organizations

More than 30 lakh civil society organizations (CSOs) exist in India; these are one of the prime job creators for the educated youth. However, the question of how these young professionals are nurtured and find a true vocation after making an informed choice of joining this sector is an area less emphasized.
October 16, 2019

Forest Food Diversity

October 7, 2018

The Narrative of Development: In Search of an Alternative

Realizing that the world of consumerism and many of the interventions carried out in the name of development will take their people away from traditional practices and habits that have sustained them in good health over centuries, the Kandho tribe takes active steps to resist any outside help that will snuff out age-old, time-tested resources and ways of living and life. In this, they are helped by Living Farms, a civil society organization, in South Odisha.
May 3, 2018

In Quest of Fellow Travellers on a Road Less Travelled: Destination Mendha

Questioning the dominant mode of life and livelihood choices and critically analyzing the development interventions aimed at attaining them, the villagers of Mendha choose the most suitable method of a collective way of life for them
November 2, 2017

The Dehuri: In Search of an Identity

Calling itself the ‘Dehuri’, the Hill Khadia tribe, the hero of this tale is in search of a space for itself in agrarian setting. Their confusions, struggles, perceptions of society and the desired role of intervention agencies constitute the body of the narration