Regional Headline : ENGLISH

Women farmers see improved financial independence with support from Walmart Foundation

New Delhi

On International Rural Women's Day, Walmart Foundation highlighted the impactful efforts of NGOs like PRADAN, ACCESS, Mercy Corps and Srijan, working in collaboration with the Walmart Foundation's Market Access Program.

The Walmart Foundation, through its Market Access Program, is committed to support agrarian communities in nine states across India — Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka,

Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, West Bengal, and Maharashtra.

In March 2023, expanding on its commitment o improving farmer livelihoods in India, Walmart Foundation announced a new five-year strategy that aims to reach 1 million smallholder farmers by 2028 with at least 50% women. Since 2018, the program has invested over $39 million designed to reach 500 Farmer Producer

Organizations/Farmer Producer Groups targeting 800,000 farmers, of which more than half are women.

According to an impact study conducted by Sambodhi, an India-based impact measurement firm, women farmers under Walmart Foundation's Market Access Program showed greater participation, awareness, and decision-making as FPO office bearers. Fewer women in program FPOs had to borrow from their

household to pay FPO membership fees (22% vs. 40% comparison), indicating greater independence,

Julie Gehrki, Vice President, Chief Operating Officer, Walmart Foundation, said, "On International Rural Women's Day, we are excited about the strides made by these resilient women who have harnessed the opportunities presented by the Market Access Program. We are witnessing the emergence of women leaders

within Farmer Producer Organisations breaking barriers, and spearheading change.”

The project PROWFIT, implemented by PRADAN, intends fo nurture 60 women-led FPOs with a membership of women from small, marginal-holder farmers and mostly tribal households in the rural parts of eastern India. PROWFIT works with 60 FPOs and 120,000 women farmers in West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha and Madhva Pradesh.

ACCESS Development Services, under its project UDAAN, works to enhance the incomes of smallholder farmers through Inclusive Value Chains. They engage with 20 FPOs (6 women-led models), and 12,000 farmers; out of which 6,600 would be women farmers, based in West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh.

Srijan’s project is aimed at the economic empowerment of women from small and marginal farmer families through

community institutional linkages. They work with 12 FPOs, and 25,000 farmers including 15,000 women farmers in Madhya Pradesh to increase incomes in a sustainable manner. Mercy Corps aims to build digital financial inclusion for 100,000 women smallholder farmers, bundled with services to incerease productivity, income, and resilience by atleast 25% over a two-year period in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh,