The NEDAC-Rural Voice awards have been instituted jointly by the Network for the Development of Agricultural Cooperatives in Asia and the Pacific (NEDAC) and Rural Voice to recognize excellence in the field of agriculture, rural affairs and cooperatives.
The Network for the Development of Agricultural Cooperatives in Asia and the Pacific (NEDAC) is a unique regional forum linking 21 apex cooperative organizations in 12 countries. It was set up in 1991 by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)’s Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) on the recommendation of the 1990 ICA regional conference of cooperative ministers.
Having its headquarters in Bangkok, NEDAC has 21 cooperative member organizations in 12 countries. The NEDAC member organizations in Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka and Thailand represent three million agricultural cooperatives that play a crucial role in improving the livelihoods of 150 million rural households.
NEDAC sensitizes governments in the region to the need for a key role for agricultural cooperatives in promoting agricultural and rural development to ensure rural food and livelihood security for hundreds of millions of people in Asia and the Pacific.
Rural Voice is a digital media platform dedicated to agriculture and Rural India. It seeks to deliver news and analytical content relevant to ‘Bharat’ in both Hindi and English across three formats: text, audio and video. It has its website by the name ruralvoice.in in Hindi and eng.ruralvoice.in in English. It offers a platform that informs, engages and empowers the rural economy stakeholders.
Kailash Choudhary, Union Minister of State (MoS) for Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare, presented the first NEDAC Rural Voice Awards at the Rural Voice Agriculture Conclave in New Delhi on December 23, 2021. The awardees were the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) Bangkok, the Asia-Pacific Rural and Agricultural Credit Association (APRACA), the National Cooperative Bank Limited (NCBL) and Baljit Singh Redhu, CMD of Lakshya Food.