Walmart announces two new grants to help India's smallholder farmers

Walmart Foundation announced two new grants as part of a commitment made in September 2018 to invest 25 million dollars (about Rs 180 crore) over five years in improving farmer livelihoods in India

The Walmart Foundation on Thursday announced two new grants as part of a commitment made in September 2018 to invest 25 million dollars (about Rs 180 crore) over five years in improving farmer livelihoods in India.

The new funding which totals 4.5 million dollars (nearly Rs 33 crore) will allow non-profits Tanager and Pradan to scale their efforts to help farmers earn more from improved output and fair market access.

Both grantees will focus on increasing opportunities for women farmers via farmer producer organisations.

With these two new grants, the Walmart Foundation has invested a total of 15 million dollars (about Rs 110 crore) with eight non-government organisations (NGOs) in India, supporting programmes designed to impact more than 1.4 lakh farmers including nearly 80,000 women farmers to date.

Kathleen McLaughlin, President of Walmart Foundation and Executive Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer of Walmart Inc, said the global COVID-19 pandemic has increased pressure on India's farmers, especially women farmers shouldering extra responsibilities in the household while seeing their incomes diminish overnight.

"We at the Walmart Foundation and our grantee partners are focused on supporting farmers to increase their resilience and sustainability for a better future," she said.

Kalyan Krishnamurthy, Flipkart Group's Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Walmart Foundation Board of Directors, said there is huge potential for innovative technology solutions to help farmers in India improve productivity and yield, access valuable market information and succeed as part of a more efficient and transparent supply chain.

"Farmer producer organisations are key to the foundation's strategy for empowering farmers and bringing them into the digital era," he said in a statement.