Climate Action India Project #36187

Greater Food Security for women farmers in India

by Sophia Akash Foundation

Project Report | Feb 20, 2020
Reaching 1,500 farmers by the end of 2020

By Shailendra, Essi and Joyce | Project Advisors

At the start of 2020, we have 150 farmers producing and earning an average of $65 per month. This means a 78% increase in yearly income and providing greater food security for households! With more scalable and affordable programs, we aim to reach 1,500 farmers by the end of 2020.

Thank you very much to all our generous donors; your continued support has made these milestones possible!

Progress till date:

We reduced loan release time from an average of 100 days with the first 50 farmers in 2019 to less than 15 days for the last 50 farmers in 2019. We have also launched version 6 of our greenhouse costing 25% less than the last while installation time has been reduced from 7 days to only 2 days. This means more farmers can access greenhouse technologies for a lower cost to provide food security for the wider community.

How did we achieve this?

In terms of access to loans, we expanded and deepened partnerships with financiers. We have also scaled from 18 people in one location to 46 people across 7 offices! The deepened expertise and technology ensured the lowest cost and fastest time to install greenhouses. This means we can replicate and scale-up our work across regions to reach further farming communities.

2020 Goals:

We aim to complete the ‘Greenhouse Lite’ at less than 50% of the cost of the current structure, increase average income per farmer per month to $80, and build a team of 100 persons across multiple office locations. With proven replicability and breakthrough affordability, we aim to help 1,500 farmers by the end of 2020!

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Dec 2, 2019
Climate Smart Greenhouses = Greater Food Security

By Patel Shailendra | Project Leader

Climate Smart Greenhouses = Greater Food Security for Poor Farmers

650 farming families enrolled, 150 farmers providing greater food security for their families despite some of the worst droughts and floods.

We are proud to report first concrete, tangible results of climate smart greenhouses delivering quality produce using organic farming methods and considerably less water while generating sustainable farmer incomes.

Our heartfelt thanks and warmest greetings for the festive season ahead. You have all continued to generously support these efforts and we are all witnessing the positive outcomes that we all wished for - farming families securing greater food security for their families.

Please continue to give your support generously

With more and more farmers growing quality produce, adopting better, more organic farming practices giving rise to sustainable levels of income and equally importantly, with climate smart farming.

Progress till date:

Our partners in India have successfully enrolled 650 farmers and installed a total of 150 climate smart greenhouses to date! This means that we have laid the foundations for helping another 500 farmers to benefit from environmentally friendly farming methods that result in greater food security for their families throughout the year.

How did we achieve this?

By providing the farmers with support and guidance throughout the growing season, equipping the farmers with better quality seeds, encouraging them to adopt organic farming methods and helping them to bring their better quality and nutrient rich produce to local and urban markets.

With your generous support we are developing better, more robust climate smart greenhouses and making ready a greater variety of crops that the farmers can sow and grow with confidence to help keep their soil nutrient rich and devoid of chemical fertilisers and pesticides.

With the help of a more scalable and affordable program, we are confident of equipping another 500 farming families with the tools and means with which to grow and harvest better quality crops that can provide for a more reliable source of income.

Adopting Organic Farming Practices - Ancestral Intelligence !

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Aug 29, 2019
408 farmers enrolled, 115 greenhouses installed!

By Shailendra Patel | Project Advisor

408 farmers now enrolled, 115 greenhouses installed and more and more farmers surviving the drought and able to feed their families. Thank you!

A big thank you to all our donors and supporters who have so generously continued to support our efforts to help poor and low-income farmers to earn more and feed their families despite the severe droughts experienced in India.

Progress till date:

Our partners in India have successfully enrolled 408 farmers and installed a total of 115 greenhouses to date! This means that we are on course to help as many farmers as possible during 2019. 115 farmers have already benefitted from the greenhouses, specialist training, soil testing, and introduction to better farming practices, resulting in a stable source of income and food for their families.

How did we achieve this?

We have continued to improve the efficiency of the greenhouses in terms of water consumption, crop growth rates and resistance to pests, resulting in better than expected crop yields and income for the farmers.

We have also continued to improve our “orientation training” for new farmers; Currently, 60% of the farmers who enroll for the orientation training also signup for the full greenhouse implementation program.

Finally, we have also established a new field partner program which engages drip irrigation suppliers, farmer collectives and milk buyers. Through this network, more farmers are becoming aware of better farming practices and are learning about the benefits of our adopting sustainable farming practices.

On-going efforts

With your generous support we have successfully continued to develop and deploy our affordable greenhouse solutions to improve farmers’ livelihoods. They are now able to have better and more predictable yields as well as reduced environmental risks.

We continue to face the challenge of providing ready access to working capital for many of these farmers and with your help, that of our partners and benefactors, we remain hopeful of being able to establish a more sustainable source of funding support for the farmers.

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