Pranab is a passionate researcher and an empathetic soul, eager to contribute to sustainability and equity, globally and locally. For more than 25 years, he has been working around inter-disciplinary issues related to natural resources management and governance in global south, with governments, DFIs, (I)NGOs, and communities.
He started his journey as a Scientist with India’s National Agriculture Research System, developing model watersheds to restore hill landscapes and tribal livelihoods, that led to the prestigious National Award in 2002. To serve the development sector more flexibly, he left his job after a decade and since then, has expanded his engagements around water, livelihoods, forestry, and land, building evidence and making recognizable impacts, at the national and international level. He has led and guided large scale bilateral and multi-country projects around climate change, food security, forestry and livelihoods and has accompanied and evaluated donor-funded projects around NRM, livelihoods and value chain projects across South Asia.
He founded and leads the Center for Land Governance (CLG), which in a shot span of eight years, has been acknowledged as a leading land think tank around land governance policy and research in India and globally. CLG’s work spans across rural, urban, forest and agriculture landscapes cross-cutting gender, technology, justice, and sustainability. Apart from engaging on policy and action research with governments, the multilateral and Development Finance Institutions, academics, NGOs, and private sector, CLG organizes an annual India Land and Development Conference, a unique land convening in South Asia. He also occasionally teaches land related courses at Universities and B-Schools.
Pranab actively contributes to national and global land initiatives, as part of Global Land Networks, events, partnerships and through his research as well as writings in peer reviewed and popular publications. Towards building a land ecosystem in Global South and integrate land tenure to the global and local development agendas, he has been triggering conversations, connections and partnerships among land actors and institutions working across sectors and geographies.
