Walmart Unveiled 4.8 Million USD Grants for Indian Farmers

Digital Green and TechnoServe in India will use the fund to help farmers and to provide them a better livelihood.

FREMONT, CA: Walmart Foundation has announced that they will provide a fund of about Rs 34 Cr (4.8 million USD) to Digital Green and TechnoServe. The initiative is part of the company’s long-term commitments to support initiatives that focus on improving farmer livelihoods.

These grants will support the programs that will enable smallholder farmers to have access to agriculture technology, training on best agricultural practices. It will also enhance access to formal markets, skill, and capacity building for farmer producer organizations. These allowances are a part of the commitment Walmart Foundation made in September 2018 to contribute 25 million USD over the next five years to improve farmer livelihoods in India.

With the amount of 1.3 million USD, Digital green will develop a digital data platform, “Farmstack.” The platform will provide better services for and improve the livelihoods of Andhra Pradesh farmers. It will specifically target lower-income communities in farmer producer organizations. It will create impact to more than 81,000 farmers, including more than 29,030 women farmers in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh.

TechnoServe will focus on training 20 FPOs and will facilitate market linkages by setting up procurement and aggregation systems. With the funding of 3.5 Million USD, they will try to boost the income of the farmers. Sustainable agricultural practices, market linkages, and effective management at the FPO level can boost smallholder farmers’ inclusion, incomes, and livelihoods across India.

Vinay Kumar, managing director of Asia at Digital Green, appreciates the step taken by Walmart Foundation and says that it will leverage their mission of using digital tools to strengthen the impact for smallholder farmers. They are feeling grateful for the opportunity to work with smallholder farmers in improving their livelihoods and those of others in their community.

These announcements were made at the ‘Strengthening Agri Systems: Road to supporting smallholder farmers and boosting incomes’ Summit,’. Rameswar Teli, minister of state for Food Processing Industries at the government of India inaugurated the event. Walmart.org and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry in New Delhi jointly organized the event.

Read More: HARMAN appoints Kher V-P of lifestyle audio unit
Infosys opens centre in Arizona, to hire 1,000 techies