Paderu is a jurisdiction block in Vishakhapatnam district of AP and is located in the lush green area of the Eastern Ghats hills range in India. Nearly, 73% of land area in Paderu block is under forest land followed by agricultural land (20.2%), plantations (2.5%) and built up land covers only 2.1%. The soils are mainly red sandy loams and light to medium in texture. It falls under the agro-climatic zone of high altitude. The normal annual rainfall is 1252 mm and mean annual temperature varies from 24 °C to 35 °C providing ideal climatic zones for production of coffee and spices such as black pepper and turmeric as well as a number of horticulture crops. Agriculture is the main source of livelihood of the people living in this area and they practice shifting cultivation on hill slopes.  Majority of the rural population in Paderu is tribal and constitutes of smallholder farmers with landholding of less than 1 Ha.

Paderu compact 
Currently the process of outreach to key stakeholders such as Farmer groups , local administration and government, local civil society organizations (CSO) and private sector participants is being carried out. The Compact and vision will be finalized later this year. The vision will be based on key thematic areas such as: Better Income through sustainable market linkages and fair prices for the participating famers; Better environment through adoption of sustainable and natural farming practice.