{"type": "project", "title": "MRV Foundation (previously MRV101)", "logoImg": "bafkreieezh3ibgiteyabnqn32d2jvxifwlatfoaj7q7af7bdja2fswv7cy", "website": "https://mrv.earth", "bannerImg": "bafkreidoebxh37edccxwyefwjurr2jlnyymb6mjx3w5nhzckczd3bzmi4e", "createdAt": 1673465193660, "credentials": {"twitter": {"type": ["VerifiableCredential"], "proof": {"jws": "eyJhbGciOiJFZERTQSIsImNyaXQiOlsiYjY0Il0sImI2NCI6ZmFsc2V9..pepOoMRjUOHOn56fRdNjLUbhbwAyt1QOjkL18H33xdgiAEKQc0vVksnrQ6zNoEp9gHwYN5PE4bJrI6vVJMxjBA", "type": "Ed25519Signature2018", "created": "2023-01-13T00:20:43.005Z", "proofPurpose": "assertionMethod", "verificationMethod": "did:key:z6MkghvGHLobLEdj1bgRLhS4LPGJAvbMA1tn2zcRyqmYU5LC#z6MkghvGHLobLEdj1bgRLhS4LPGJAvbMA1tn2zcRyqmYU5LC"}, "issuer": "did:key:z6MkghvGHLobLEdj1bgRLhS4LPGJAvbMA1tn2zcRyqmYU5LC", "@context": ["https://www.w3.org/2018/credentials/v1"], "issuanceDate": "2023-01-13T00:20:43.005Z", "expirationDate": "2023-04-13T00:20:43.005Z", "credentialSubject": {"id": "did:pkh:eip155:1:0xCd818A14C8c74426D417B0E04Ea227BD5a243Ca0", "hash": "v0.0.0:ECXS84qjafawKBJfQOiMvwKs1nffUzParcuzUCvmZnc=", "@context": [{"hash": "https://schema.org/Text", "provider": "https://schema.org/Text"}], "provider": "ClearTextTwitter#MRVProtocol"}}}, "description": "ABOUT\n \nMRV Foundation is a project that spun out of a founder\u2019s circle in the ReFi DAO. Effective measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) of soil regeneration, crops\u2019 health improvement and biodiversity enhancement is critical to help small scale farmers and growers navigate tough challenges of climate change.\n \n \n \nTHE PROBLEM\n \nTraditional MRV approaches are prohibitively expensive, often constituting 30-40% of the costs of implementing regenerative practices for large projects over 1200 hectares. What\u2019s worse, these expenses are always upfront but the project developers are not able to receive revenues until the credits are sold after 5 years or longer. Additionally, the current MRV methodologies are analog, difficult to understand, very lengthy processes and often do not include regenerative practices valued by the local communities. Data gathered during traditional MRV practices is usually kept in silos and has no useful application or benefits for smaller farmers.\n \nSmall farmers produce ~85% of the world's food supply and they don\u2019t have any viable solutions and support to switch to regenerative practices. This scenario offers us a significant opportunity for regenerative impact. MRV is a key component of building a system that can drive financial means to small-scale projects. Not only in agriculture - forestry, ocean, city regeneration.\n\n\n\nOUR SOLUTION\n \nTo help small scale projects get full benefits of carbon, ecocredits and other incentives for ecosystem services, MRV Foundation is working to publish MRV101, an open source software-based guide to help small projects to quickly understand and implement relevant MRV best practices and reap the rewards. In the guide\u2019s first edition, we are starting with agriculture, agroforestry, and small-scale farming examples.\n \n \n \nDELIVERABLES (Each Phase lasting ~ 9-12 months)\n \nPhase 1: Understanding traditional MRV approaches (Completed with the help and support from Solid World Carbon Expert, Mr. Durga Prasad)\n \nPhase 2: Learning relevant MRV practices for Small Scale Projects in the context of pilot projects based in India. \n \nPhase 3: Combining our learnings with on-ground best practices and publishing the guide.\n \n \n \nGR15 UPDATE \n\nWe raised ~$45,000 in Gitcoin GR15. We are grateful for the Gitcoin Platform, the whole Gitcoin team and everyone who believed and supported us during GR15. Over the last three months, we have worked on the following:\n\n- We did meetings with the ReFi leaders to learn how to best utilize the funds for MRV research.\n- We welcomed a few open contributors to the core team for the agenda of research. \n- We organised deep-dive sessions with experts in the field of IOT, ReFi and Carbon Space to provide us with guidance during our weekly meetings.\n- We invited pilot projects to submit project proposals as per the guidelines set by Bati.\n- We received 5 pilot project pitches during the submission phase.\n- The leaders of these pilot projects were also acting as open contributors for our MRV research. Hence, unfortunately, the question of conflict of interest started to arise. These leaders were also busy leading their own individual projects and were not able to contribute fully as per the needs of the MRV Foundation. These factors slowed down our research efforts and therefore, we unfortunately had to fully restructure our research team in December.\n- For research, instead of relying on project leaders to act as open contributors, we have decided to partner with the agriculture scientists who are already doing research in the field of MRV. As the first step, we are partnering with Junagadh Agricultural University to engage with the academic researchers.\n- We are also in discussions with a few farmer collectives to get access to their farmlands for implementing pilot projects.\n\n\n\nUSAGE OF FUNDS FROM THIS ALPHA ROUND\n\n- Providing stipend to academic researchers and core contributors - 50%\n- Documentation of research - 20%\n- Providing for operational expenses of the foundation - 20%\n- Providing for legal and compliance expenses of the foundation - 5%\n- Towards strengthening ReFi Space in India to ReFiIndia - 5%\n\n\n \n \nIMPACT AREAS\n \n- Incentivise smallholder farmers for doing regenerative practices and MRV documentation.\n- Improve the scope of VCM to include Biodiversity and other forms of credits.\n- Increase citizen participatory methods in VCM, ReFi and climate action.\n- Build collaboration with the DeSci community.\n- Bring existing MRV tools for the application in small scale projects.\n- Develop new tools where gaps are identified.\n\nCORE TEAM\n\n- Bhavesh Bati (https://twitter.com/Bati_ReFi)\n- Priyank Bakshi (https://twitter.com/0xClimate)\n", "logoImgData": {}, "bannerImgData": {}, "projectTwitter": "MRVProtocol"}
MRV Foundation (previously MRV101)
ABOUT
 
MRV Foundation is a project that spun out of a founder’s circle in the ReFi DAO. Effective measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) of soil regeneration, crops’ health improvement and biodiversity enhancement is critical to help small scale farmers and growers navigate tough challenges of climate change.
 
 
 
THE PROBLEM
 
Traditional MRV approaches are prohibitively expensive, often constituting 30-40% of the costs of implementing regenerative practices for large projects over 1200 hectares. What’s worse, these expenses are always upfront but the project developers are not able to receive revenues until the credits are sold after 5 years or longer. Additionally, the current MRV methodologies are analog, difficult to understand, very lengthy processes and often do not include regenerative practices valued by the local communities. Data gathered during traditional MRV practices is usually kept in silos and has no useful application or benefits for smaller farmers.
 
Small farmers produce ~85% of the world's food supply and they don’t have any viable solutions and support to switch to regenerative practices. This scenario offers us a significant opportunity for regenerative impact. MRV is a key component of building a system that can drive financial means to small-scale projects. Not only in agriculture - forestry, ocean, city regeneration.



OUR SOLUTION
 
To help small scale projects get full benefits of carbon, ecocredits and other incentives for ecosystem services, MRV Foundation is working to publish MRV101, an open source software-based guide to help small projects to quickly understand and implement relevant MRV best practices and reap the rewards. In the guide’s first edition, we are starting with agriculture, agroforestry, and small-scale farming examples.
 
 
 
DELIVERABLES (Each Phase lasting ~ 9-12 months)
 
Phase 1: Understanding traditional MRV approaches (Completed with the help and support from Solid World Carbon Expert, Mr. Durga Prasad)
 
Phase 2: Learning relevant MRV practices for Small Scale Projects in the context of pilot projects based in India. 
 
Phase 3: Combining our learnings with on-ground best practices and publishing the guide.
 
 
 
GR15 UPDATE 

We raised ~$45,000 in Gitcoin GR15. We are grateful for the Gitcoin Platform, the whole Gitcoin team and everyone who believed and supported us during GR15. Over the last three months, we have worked on the following:

- We did meetings with the ReFi leaders to learn how to best utilize the funds for MRV research.
- We welcomed a few open contributors to the core team for the agenda of research. 
- We organised deep-dive sessions with experts in the field of IOT, ReFi and Carbon Space to provide us with guidance during our weekly meetings.
- We invited pilot projects to submit project proposals as per the guidelines set by Bati.
- We received 5 pilot project pitches during the submission phase.
- The leaders of these pilot projects were also acting as open contributors for our MRV research. Hence, unfortunately, the question of conflict of interest started to arise. These leaders were also busy leading their own individual projects and were not able to contribute fully as per the needs of the MRV Foundation. These factors slowed down our research efforts and therefore, we unfortunately had to fully restructure our research team in December.
- For research, instead of relying on project leaders to act as open contributors, we have decided to partner with the agriculture scientists who are already doing research in the field of MRV. As the first step, we are partnering with Junagadh Agricultural University to engage with the academic researchers.
- We are also in discussions with a few farmer collectives to get access to their farmlands for implementing pilot projects.



USAGE OF FUNDS FROM THIS ALPHA ROUND

- Providing stipend to academic researchers and core contributors - 50%
- Documentation of research - 20%
- Providing for operational expenses of the foundation - 20%
- Providing for legal and compliance expenses of the foundation - 5%
- Towards strengthening ReFi Space in India to ReFiIndia - 5%


 
 
IMPACT AREAS
 
- Incentivise smallholder farmers for doing regenerative practices and MRV documentation.
- Improve the scope of VCM to include Biodiversity and other forms of credits.
- Increase citizen participatory methods in VCM, ReFi and climate action.
- Build collaboration with the DeSci community.
- Bring existing MRV tools for the application in small scale projects.
- Develop new tools where gaps are identified.

CORE TEAM

- Bhavesh Bati (https://twitter.com/Bati_ReFi)
- Priyank Bakshi (https://twitter.com/0xClimate)

MRV Foundation (previously MRV101)