Supporting Women Smallholders, India

In 2020, working with the Louis Dreyfus Foundation and the Centre for Microfinance, we embarked on a five-year program to enhance the food security and cash incomes of women smallholder farmers in India’s Tonk district, located in the semi-arid eastern plains of Rajasthan, a farming region with low productivity, limited rainfall and a high incidence of poverty.

In 2021, over 3,700 women farmers received training on planting methods, including pre-sowing, post-sowing, pest management and organic farming. Three hundred and twenty-two participants in this group were supported in developing vegetable production (including vertical planting methods) thanks to the establishment of two high-tech nurseries to supply healthy vegetable seedlings to participating farmers.

Phase 2 of the project started in 2022 to support farmers across almost 100 villages through crop distribution and training in natural farming techniques, aiming to establish vegetable gardens and increase production through improved livestock management practices (including vaccination, deworming and better nutrition).

The project also scaled up the farmers’ commercial vegetable production, helping to establish fruit orchards and water-harvesting ponds, and installing drip irrigation systems.

Our Impact

Beneficiaries: 4,594 farmers supported in 2022

Expected average productivity increase: 35 to 60%

Find out more on how we are Supporting Women Farmers in Rajasthan.