SARDS has focused its attention in diverse socio-economic and developmental issues as its main area of interventions by Promoting grass root level community based self-help organization for participating in the community development process and local governance in addressing their own issues relating to their own life and immediate environment, Advocating the sustainable and eco-friendly human practices and acts for livelihoods promotion while ensuring the  conservation and protection of nature.

SARDS have been facilitating a process of change at multiple levels to bring a long-lasting impact on social and economic status of the poor and socially excluded families through its interventions. The experience of SARDS presents a strong opportunity for evolving its approach to development in bringing together effective programming approaches and ‘best practice’ methodologies in a consistent and convergent manner as a resource and strategy for effectively enhancing and promoting sustainable resource management.

SARDS adopts an integrated livelihood development strategy, with the Community Based Organizations play a pivotal role in providing comprehensive financial services to their members on sustainable basis based on the needs of the members to strengthen the livelihoods portfolio of the poor and families having children and youngsters at Risk of School drop outs,child Labour, child Migration, Child marriages, child trafficking etc.; The focus of livelihood and micro-enterprises of SARDS is not only raising the income of the families but also ensures the adequate investment on the wellbeing of children and youngsters out of the raised income.

SARDS follows the given Principles in Livelihood Promotion

• People centered approach through CBOs. SARDS believes and consciously attempts to evolve a set of behavioral norms and processes for a group of households to interact and transact in a sustainable manner. Evolving CBOs as the independent and self-managed institutions owned by members take the lead in achieving the intended objectives set by their members. SARDS facilitate the entire process of evolution of business development plans for the CBOs to set the direction.
• Holistic- focus on most vulnerable, multiple positive influences on people, multiple outcomes. SARDS aims at holistic approach in livelihood promotion through enhancement, diversification and creating livelihoods assets for the most vulnerable families.
• Dynamic- flexible to mitigate negative factors and support positive patterns. SARDS strengthen the CBOs to be vigilant and support them in designing products (insurance and other) and services to neutralize the negative factors in the existing livelihoods and support positive patterns that create multiple outcomes.
• Macro-micro links- macro level influences, policy level development. SARDS always strives for the policy level changes through demonstrating models, incubating ideas, action research and highlighting the best practices.
• Sustainability is the key. SARDS believes in evolving the CBOs to cater the needs of the members. For that to happen, CBOs nurtured as dynamic institutions that adopts change, vigilant to redesign their services and products to cater the member’s needs so that they become relevant organizations.

SARDS adopts the Key Strategies in promoting livelihoods:

• Building Self-Managed Member Owned and Member Managed Community Based Organizations to provide microfinance and livelihood support services to their members on sustainable basis
• Providing access to comprehensive microfinance services through CBOs on sustained manner for enhancing the vulnerable household’s livelihood portfolio
• Enable CBOs of members to offer diverse livelihood support services to enhance the income, reducing costs, increasing wage availability and reducing risk on sustainable basis

SARDS has been working in the sector of livelihoods promotion to ensure constant income flow in the households to resolve many pathetic issues in each of the disadvantaged and vulnerable families in coastal and drought proneareasof Andhra Pradesh.  The learning helped SARDS to adopt sub sector approach in working with diversified livelihoods with a potential and best suit approaches with a strong focus on Institution Building, Capacity Building, Infrastructure Development, Value Addition, Marketing and Advocacy and promoting Convergence and Linkages.  Out of it SARDS categorized its livelihood operations in to following sub sectors such as Salt production, vegetable production, Animal husbandry, Horticulture, Fisheries, Micro enterprises.

SARDS is now partnering with National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development Bank (NABARD) for promoting and sustaining the livelihoods and Micro enterprises of landless, small and marginal farmers, micro entrepreneurs, poor and vulnerable families under sustainable development plan of watershed villages, watershed development projects, tribal development Project, farmers producer organisations and KFW soli Project in Prakasam and Nellore Districts in Andhra Pradesh.

SARDS has got a good history of partnering with external resource supporting agencies such as  German Agro action/WHH Germany, Concern Worldwide  Ireland, Oxfam Australia, CARE India, GIZ Germany, Plan international, Save the Children UK, TDH Germany, KKF Germany, Embassy of Ireland, Dalmia foundation, Industries Craft Foundation,  FVTF, NSIC, GoAP for improving the lives and livelihoods of  vegetable farmers,  agriculture farmers, women dairy farmers, women salt, fish, vegetable, fruit venders, Micro entrepreneurs, petty trades, rural artisans, NTFP Collectors, grass root Para professionals and service provides etc; in its operational areas.