Walmart Foundation Drives Advancement for Women Farmers With $1.2 Million Grant To Transform Rural India Foundation
BENTONVILLE, Ark., and Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India, Dec. 1, 2023 — Walmart Foundation announced a grant of $1.2 million to the Transform Rural India Foundation (TRIF) aimed at improving the rural livelihoods of 15,000 women farmers in Uttar Pradesh to increase their average base income. The two-year project will primarily focus on creating 10 self-sustainable women led Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) and a platform for women farmers to strengthen and diversify their livelihoods.
As part of this project, the FPOs will receive assistance to develop business plans, strengthen post-harvest infrastructure and build necessary systems and processes including an institutional operating spine (digital book-keeping, management control systems and SOPs). The Walmart Foundation grant will support training and capacity-building sessions for the women farmers along with adoption of climate resilient practices such as soil health improvement, organic mixtures for crop nutrition and protection and water management, among others. It will establish a Krishi Value Hub (Farmer Value Hub) to undertake processing activities for identified buyers through white label goods and for the deployment of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system.
Leveraging Self Help Groups (SHGs) promoted by the Deendayal Antodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihood Mission (DAY-NRLM), a government program, TRIF will support 15,000 women in productive roles within the FPOs, offering robust institutional aggregation to enhance market connections and boost earnings. The project will also work with community representatives on building soil organic carbon through various methods of composting, ensuring soil vitality through precise testing and nutrient recommendations. It will further foster adaptive crop choices, encourage intercropping and establish a real-time agro-advisory from experts thereby bolstering a dynamic and resilient agricultural ecosystem.
"The Walmart Foundation is dedicated to providing support to the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in India, particularly focusing on women farmers. This project strongly resonates with our commitment to reach 1 million farmers by 2028 with at least 50% women. This investment will broaden our outreach to more women in rural areas and solidify our impact by promoting sustainable increases and unlocking additional sources of income."
“There is a massive opportunity to leverage women's social capital in the form of Self-Help Groups and allied institutions across India. This can forge economic collectives, positioning women as a visible workforce in the agriculture sector, armed with access to resources, services and markets. This grant from the Walmart Foundation will help develop and demonstrate the institutional model for marginal and women farmers; we are grateful to Walmart Foundation and hopeful to build these lighthouses," Anish Kumar, Managing Director, Transforming Rural India Foundation, said.
The interventions will include value chains like pulses, cereals and horticulture crops, apart from poultry, fisheries and goat rearing. The project will integrate with existing government initiatives such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGS) and Agriculture and Horticulture departments at individual and FPO levels. The synergy will not only amplify impact but also mobilize resources from government sources, banks and local communities to facilitate successful plan execution.
About Transform Rural India Foundation (TRIF)
A grassroots foundation, TRIF is deeply focused on the multifaceted challenges faced by marginalized communities, in particular women, in India’s bottom 100,000 villages. TRIF brings a deep knowledge and an inventory of working solutions for stranded India and mechanisms for scaling-up those solutions.
About Walmart Foundation
Walmart.org represents the philanthropic efforts of Walmart and the Walmart Foundation. By focusing where the business has unique strengths, Walmart.org works to tackle key social and environmental issues and collaborate with others to spark long-lasting systemic change. Walmart has stores in 20 countries, employs more than 2 million associates and does business with thousands of suppliers who, in turn, employ millions of people. Walmart.org is helping people live better by supporting programs to accelerate upward job mobility for frontline workers, advance equity, address hunger, build inclusive economic opportunity for people in supply chains, protect and restore nature, reduce waste and emissions and build strong communities where Walmart operates. Visit the Walmart Foundation website or connect on X (Formerly Twitter).
