During a workshop at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, Mahesh Patankar shared early analysis of emerging models of cooperatives such as water users associations (WUAs) to manage water budgeting and farmer producer organisations (FPOs) to link farmers directly to markets. Drawing on successful cooperative models in the United States, Dr. Patankar presented alternative business models for water, energy and produce aggregation that could strengthen rural livelihoods.