Life of 10 lakh small farmers will change, Walmart Foundation made a big announcement.
Taking forward its commitment towards improving the livelihood of farmers in India, the Walmart Foundation announced its new five-year strategy. It aims to reach 10 lakh smallholder farmers by 2028, of whom at least 50 per cent will be women. Under this, grants will be given to non-profit organizations working in the areas of collectivization and farm aggregation with the aim of increasing the income of farmers in several states including Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. The grant from the Walmart Foundation will enable local grantees to support the capacity building of Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), focusing specifically on the empowerment of women farmers. Along with this, it will enable to increase market linkages and train farmers in eco-friendly agricultural practices and technologies to get better business opportunities in an easy way.
Two new grants announced
The foundation has announced two new grants in line with the new five-year strategy, including a $3 million grant to Technoserve for smallholder farmers in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. It aims to reach 24 FPOs and 30,000 farmers, of whom 50% will be women. A $533,876 grant to Trickle Up, which aims to reach 1,000 smallholder women farmers in Odisha and connect them to two FPOs. This five-year strategy is an extension of the Walmart Foundation’s investments since 2018 in improving the livelihoods of farmers in India and increasing their access to the commercial goods market. Exceeding its initial investment goal of $25 million, the Walmart Foundation has raised over $39 million in philanthropic grants supporting smallholder farmers in India through 24 grant programs with 16 grantees. These grants have been given in Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Odisha, Jharkhand and West Bengal, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.
Supporting over 8,00,000 smallholder farmers
Through these investments, grantees associated with the Walmart Foundation will collectively support more than 800,000 smallholder farmers. It is estimated that more than half of the farmers receiving assistance will be women farmers. This new commitment reflects Walmart Foundation’s efforts to facilitate market access for smallholder farmers across India by leveraging its expansion, network and strategic philanthropy. New grants will be introduced from the end of this year. For this, the results of the study conducted by Sambodhi, a company doing impact measurement in India, will be made the basis. Sambodhi examines the positive impact Walmart Foundation’s investments have made so far in improving livelihoods and increasing income of FPOs in India. The study analyzes various initiatives taken towards FPO capacity building by various grantee NGOs and reveals that these initiatives have strengthened systems and processes at the FPO level, increased revenue and profits It has also helped in increasing the representation of women at the farm level and in leadership roles in FPOs.
