Walmart announces USD 4.8 mn additional grant to improve farmer livelihood

Walmart Foundation on Tuesday announced grants of USD 4.8 million (around Rs 34 crore) to two companies for CSR programmes to improve farmer livelihood.

The grant will be given to Digital Green and TechnoServe to enable programmes that help smallholder farmers have access to agriculture technology, provide training on sustainable farmer methods, enhance access to formal markets, and build skill and capacity for farmer producer organisations (FPOs).

These grant are part of USD 25 million (Rs 180 crore) support announced by Walmart Foundation last September.

"With today's announcement, the Walmart Foundation has contributed over USD 10 million (around Rs 71 crore) towards its USD 25 million goal," said Walmart in a statement.

These grants are expected to have a positive impact on more than 81,000 farmers in Andhra Pradesh, Telangan and Uttar Pradesh, which also include more than 29,030 woman farmers.

"Last year in September, Walmart Foundation had committed to contribute USD 25 million over the next five years to improve farmer livelihood in India. As part of this commitment, we have announced the two grants to TechnoServe and Digital Green," said Walmart Foundation President and EVP Kathleen McLaughlin.

Walmart India has also made commitments to directly source 25 per cent of the produce from smallholder farmers for its Cash & Carry stores by 2023, McLaughlin added.

We hope that Walmart Foundation's commitment, alongside the work of Walmart India's direct farm sourcing teams will help contribute to sustainable agriculture development in India, she said.