Walmart Foundation plans to support an additional 1 million smallholder farmers in India, with at least 50 per cent women, in the next five years. The foundation has also announced two new grants, which include USD 3 million to TechnoServe for reaching out to 30,000 farmers and 24 farmer producer organisations (FPOs) in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, with 50 per cent of them expected to be women.
Another grant of USD 533,876 (over Rs 4.41 crore) to NGO Trickle Up to reach out to 1,000 women smallholder farmers in Odisha, connecting them with two FPOs, the focus is to ensure the system works better for farmers.
Addressing a conference here, Walmart Foundation President Kathleen McLaughlin said, "The foundation's latest commitment to expanding market access for smallholder farmers in India builds on our efforts to identify solutions that can systemically help create shared value for all stakeholders." The aim is to enhance farm inputs, provide market access, new buyers and technology support like cash-less transactions among others to smallholder farmers in India and make them self-sustain, she added.
Speaking on the occasion, Flipkart Senior Vice President and Chief Corporate Affairs Officer Rajneesh Kumar said the company is committed to building a resilient and inclusive agribusiness supply chain. "We know that grocery empowers local stakeholders, and working closely with the Walmart Foundation, and programmes such as Flipkart Krishi Samarth, we are creating a holistic ecosystem that helps farmers prosper by leveraging the opportunities that the digital economy presents. Helping empower women, and in this case, women farmers and ensuring inclusive growth is at the centre of all our initiatives," he added.
Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar, said, "Agriculture forms the backbone of the Indian economy and the welfare of smallholder farmers is one of the top priorities of the government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership. Along with launching multiple measures to increase farmer incomes, the government has initiated setting up more than 10,000 FPOs in the country that will help them get the maximum return on their produced, he said. "I congratulate Walmart Foundation for committing to support 1 million farmers by 2028, and especially for their focus to benefit women farmers,” he added.
Walmart.org represents the philanthropic efforts of Walmart and the Walmart Foundation. It 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.