Agroecology · Food systems · Landscape finance
SandeepNayak
From a handful of seed to plans for eleven landscapes, and the money that moves them.
Sandeep Nayak is Programme Lead, Food Systems at the Consortium for Agroecological Transformations, based in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. He is an agriculture professional, trained at the Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology, and has worked on both sides of development finance: awarding grants at GIZ and raising funds at CAT.
- 1 : 1Seed and soil
- 1 : 100The field
- 1 : 10,000The village
- 1 : 1,000,000The landscape
- 1 : ∞The system
01 · At every scale
The same question, asked at five distances.
At every scale the question is what a farm family needs, and what has to change around them for it to last. Each step back, from 1 : 1 to 1 : ∞, adds people, money and time to the answer.
1 : 1 · Seed and soil
Trained to read a plant.
BSc and MSc Agriculture, Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology. First job: field sales and technical advice to farmers.
Seed head, millet field · The Dangs, Gujarat · 8 Oct 2025 · Photo: AKRSP-India
1 : 100 · The field
Programmes run with farmers.
At ICRISAT, managed the Bhoochetna and WADI+ programmes, reaching 600+ farmers across 18 villages.
Ploughing before transplanting · The Dangs, Gujarat · 10 Jul 2025 · Photo: Consortium for Agroecological Transformations
1 : 10,000 · The village
Planning starts in the community hall.
Designs and runs activity-design workshops for anchor organisations and community resource persons.
Village planning meeting · Ahwa, Gujarat · 10 Jul 2025 · Photo: Sandeep Nayak
1 : 1,000,000 · The landscape
One method for eleven landscapes.
Leads the method behind CAT's landscape investment plans, from the Himalayan valleys of Pangi to the Sundarbans. Anchor organisations write the plans; he sets the standard.
Ahwa landscape in the monsoon · Ahwa, Gujarat · 10 Jul 2025 · Photo: Sandeep Nayak
1 : ∞ · The system
Both sides of the money.
Awarded and managed €3.5M in grants to 8 projects at GIZ. Now builds proposals and blended-finance packages at CAT.
02 · Now
What the role covers at CAT.
CAT brings governments, civil society, philanthropy and research institutions together to move whole landscapes towards agroecology. The work below is CAT's; each line names Sandeep's part in it.
- Programme Strategist (consultant) · Aug 2025 – Feb 2026
- Programme Lead, Food Systems · Feb 2026 – now
- 01
Landscape investment planning
Leads the method behind CAT's landscape investment plans across eleven landscapes. Set the common budget structure and phase-adjusted costing so plans can be compared and funded across landscapes. Reviews anchor organisations' drafts and decides when they meet the standard. Designed the three-track implementation approach that turns plans into field activity.
- 02
Programme finance and proposals
Builds proposals, budgets and budget narratives for CAT's funders. Designs blended-finance packages that combine grants, returnable grants, outcome-based finance and debt.
- 03
Monitoring, evaluation and learning
Co-created CAT's Generalised Outcomes Framework, the framework all landscapes report against, and maps each plan's activities to outputs and intermediate outcomes. Wrote the terms of reference for the MEL consultancy and ran the selection. Reviews CAT's theory of change.
- 04
CAT Transformation Hub
Designed and built hub.agroecologyindia.org in Next.js and Supabase, and owns its roadmap. Built the learning platform and produced the CAT induction course, writing the screenplay and making the motion graphics and voiceover. CAT developed the course content as a team. Wrote CAT's Technology Framework.
- 05
Training and capacity building
Designs and runs activity-design workshops for anchor organisations and community resource persons. Co-trainer for the economics sessions of GIZ's Integrated Sustainable Aquaculture in Practice course, Bangkok, November 2026. Produced the funder film CAT in five minutes.
- 06
Team leadership
Line-manages programme staff. Built CAT's rubric-based hiring and shortlisting method. Coordinates anchor organisations across the eleven landscapes.
- 07
Organisational development
Shapes how CAT works: role design, standard processes, induction and internal systems. Writes process documents that record decision logic, so each team can reach the same output its own way.
- 08
Partnerships, policy and communication
Builds CAT's network across government, civil society and philanthropy. Runs national convenings and policy roundtables, including Groundwork 1.0, and represents CAT at policy forums.
03 · Working surfaces
The plan before the plan.
Before a landscape plan has a budget line, it has a crop calendar drawn in chalk, a livelihood table on a whiteboard and a walk across the land with the people who farm it.
04 · Landscapes
Eleven landscapes, one standard.
Each landscape is a block, or a cluster of villages within one, with an anchor organisation that writes its seven-year plan. Sandeep sets the method, the common budget structure and the bar every plan must clear.
- 01PangiRRAN · Chamba, Himachal PradeshPlan in preparation
- 02Khatarshnong–LaitkrohNESFAS · East Khasi Hills, MeghalayaPlan published
- 03MauSRIJAN · Chitrakoot, Uttar PradeshPlan published
- 04RajnagarPRADAN · Chhatarpur, Madhya PradeshPlan published
- 05PatratuGSS · Ramgarh, JharkhandPlan published
- 06PatharpratimaDRCSC · South 24 Parganas, West BengalPlan published
- 07AhwaAKRSP-India · Dang, GujaratPlan published
- 08DantewadaNirmaan · Dantewada, ChhattisgarhPlan published
- 09ChitrakondaWASSAN · Malkangiri, OdishaPlan published
- 10DharashivSSP · Dharashiv, MaharashtraPlan published
- 11VempalliCSA · YSR Kadapa, Andhra PradeshPlan published
- Source: CAT Transformation Hub ↗
05 · Selected work
Five pieces of work, and his part in each.
Most of this work is collective. Each page says what the organisation did and what Sandeep did.
- 01 · CAT · 2025 – nowCAT Transformation HubA landscape-centred platform that maps organisations, solutions and insights from CAT's landscape plans.Read the work →
- 02 · CAT · 2025 – nowLandscape investment planningOne method and one budget standard for eleven seven-year landscape plans, each written by its anchor organisation.Read the work →
- 03 · CAT · 2025 – nowOutcomes framework and MELOne framework every landscape reports against, built to support learning as well as reporting.Read the work →
- 04 · IFFCO Kisan · 2019 – 2021Krishi Dev GyaanA mobile crop-advisory platform using machine learning, built at IFFCO Kisan.Read the work →
- 05 · IFFCO Kisan and GIZ · 2019 – 2026Aquatic food systemsFisheries and aquaculture work across IFFCO Kisan and GIZ, from a fishing app to state policy.Read the work →
06 · Career
Each role, a new discipline.
He started by selling fertiliser to farmers. He now designs how a consortium plans, funds and reports.
2016 – 2018
MSc Agriculture
Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology · Bhubaneswar
Postgraduate training in agriculture, after a bachelor's degree at the same university.
Jul 2018 – Feb 2019
Territory Sales Manager
Nagarjuna Fertilizers and Chemicals · Bhubaneswar
Led sales and distribution in a territory and gave farmers technical support.
What this addedSelling at the farm gate: dealers, distribution, and the advice farmers act on.
Feb – Sep 2019
Scientific Officer
ICRISAT · Patancheru, Hyderabad
Managed the Bhoochetna and WADI+ programmes, reaching 600+ farmers across 18 villages, and monitored partner NGOs' implementation.
What this addedRunning research programmes with farming communities, and monitoring the NGOs that deliver them.
Sep 2019 – Oct 2021
Assistant Manager, AgriTech Development
IFFCO Kisan Sanchar Limited · Bhubaneswar
Built Krishi Dev Gyaan, a mobile crop-advisory platform using machine learning. Led the regional rollout of ICT and remote-sensing agritech in Odisha, Karnataka and West Bengal. Managed ICT-enabled fisheries projects with UN WFP.
What this addedBuilding digital products for farmers: machine learning, remote sensing and mobile advisory.
Nov 2021 – Jul 2025
Junior Advisor, then Advisor
GIZ India · Bhubaneswar and Delhi
Junior Advisor Nov 2021 – Apr 2024 · Advisor May 2024 – Jul 2025
Worked on the funder side: designed, awarded and managed €3.5M in grants to 8 projects and €1.2M across 29 service contracts, from call to closure. Applied the landscape approach in Odisha, Assam and Madhya Pradesh. Contributed to the Assam State Fisheries Policy.
TrainingNegotiating successfully, GIZ, Jul 2022 · Cooperation in complex environments, GIZ, Oct 2023 · Effective workshop design and moderation, GIZ, Jul 2024 · Agile project management, ÖAR GmbH
What this addedGrant-making from the funder's side: calls, due diligence, contracts and closure.
Aug 2025 – now
Programme Strategist, then Programme Lead, Food Systems
Consortium for Agroecological Transformations · Remote, Bhubaneswar
Programme Strategist (consultant) Aug 2025 – Feb 2026 · Programme Lead from Feb 2026
Leads the landscape investment planning method across eleven landscapes, builds proposals and blended-finance packages, and designed and built the CAT Transformation Hub.
On both sides of the money in food systems: funding projects at GIZ, raising funds at CAT.
TrainingAI Fluency for nonprofits, Anthropic, Jun 2026 · Introduction to Claude Cowork, Anthropic, Aug 2026
What this addedLandscape planning, fundraising and blended finance, organisation design, and building software as an agriculture professional.
07 · In others' words
What colleagues and partners say.
I have known Sandeep during his time in GIZ. He is very reliable, always ready to lend a hand. He is a team player and fast learner. His expertise on aquaculture is commendable. He can establish and maintain good partner relationships, especially with the Government.
A special note of thanks to Sandeep Nayak for leading the creation of the hub.
08 · Organisations
Who the work has been with.
Employers, the anchor organisations whose landscape plans he reviews, and the supporters CAT lists publicly.
Employers
Consortium for Agroecological TransformationsHosted by the Centre for Sustainable Agriculture
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)
IFFCO Kisan Sanchar Limited
ICRISAT- Nagarjuna Fertilizers and Chemicals
Landscape anchor partners
Revitalising Rainfed Agriculture NetworkRRAN, Pangi
North East Slow Food & Agrobiodiversity SocietyNESFAS, Khatarshnong–Laitkroh
Self-Reliant Initiatives through Joint ActionSRIJAN, Mau
Professional Assistance for Development ActionPRADAN, Rajnagar
Gramin Seva SanghGSS, Patratu
Development Research Communication and Services CentreDRCSC, Patharpratima
Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (India)AKRSP-India, Ahwa
Nirmaan OrganisationNirmaan, Dantewada
Watershed Support Services and Activities NetworkWASSAN, Chitrakonda
Swayam Shikshan PrayogSSP, Dharashiv
Centre for Sustainable AgricultureCSA, Vempalli
Programme partners
- UN World Food ProgrammeICT-enabled fisheries, at IFFCO Kisan
- Government of AssamState Fisheries Policy, at GIZ
- NITI AayogSustainable aquatic food systems paper, at GIZ
CAT's supporters, as listed by CAT
ATE Chandra Foundation
Bharat Agroecology Fund
Children's Investment Fund Foundation- Centre for Sustainable Agriculture
- German Cooperation, implemented by GIZ
India Climate Collaborative
IKEA Foundation
EarthON Foundation
Rainmatter Foundation
Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies
The Rockefeller Foundation
Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation
Global Alliance for the Future of Food
Climateworks Foundation
09 · Writing and publications
Knowledge products.
2022 – 2024
- Handbooks, trainer's manuals, a farmer record book and entrepreneurship guidebooksGIZ India · Knowledge products
10 · Contact