Solidaridad Asia

#WorldWaterDay2025: On World Water Day, take a look at some of the practices and techniques employed by farmers in Indonesia, with support from Solidaridad, to optimize and minimize water use in sustainable and regenerative oil palm cultivation. 💦🌴💧 Solidaridad Network | Solidaridad Asia | Solidaridad Indonesia | Yeni Fitriyanti | Edy Hartono | andie wibianto #WorldWaterDay #WaterManagement #WaterConservation #WaterEfficientAgriculture #SustainablePalmOil #RegenerativeAgriculture #WeekendRead

The Bharatkhand Consortium, supported by Solidaridad, was recently honoured with the STAR Community Empowerment Award 2025 for its outstanding contribution to empowering farmer producer organizations (FPOs) and rural entrepreneurs. 👏 The award recognizes Bharatkhand’s efforts to strengthen market linkages and enhance the agricultural value chain. It was presented by the Science and Technology Applications Remodel (STAR) Society, Jaipur, Rajasthan, as part of its conference "Current Trends in Agricultural Research and Extension Services: Shaping the Future of Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security". 👩🌾 👨🌾 🥗 The event witnessed the participation of 29 FPOs from Madhya Pradesh. Key discussions at the conference focused on government plans for FPOs, marketing strategies, product development, and various schemes available for FPOs. Eminent scientists and researchers from across the country also provided valuable insights and guidance to the participating FPOs. 💡 Bharatkhand Products | Solidaridad Asia | Dr.Suresh Motwani #AwardsAndRecognition #MarketLinkages #AgriculturalSupplyChains

𝑮𝒍𝒐𝒃𝒂𝒍 𝑪𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒓 𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝑺𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝑪𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓 𝑭𝒂𝒓𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝑮𝒖𝒋𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒕 Arkema, a key partner of the Pragati programme implemented by Solidaridad, recently hosted a global customer event. The event, facilitated by Solidaridad's field team, brought together representatives from 25+ companies from the USA, Europe, and Japan for an immersive experience in sustainable castor farming. 🤝 Held in Gujarat, the event provided an opportunity for international stakeholders to witness, first-hand, the impact of the Pragati programme on farming communities. Participants traveled to Kumbhasan and Sasam villages in Banaskantha district, both of which fall under the Pragati project. 👩🌾 👨🌾 These villages are key demonstration sites where farmers have successfully adopted sustainable agricultural practices in castor farming. Visitors explored certified castor farms and demonstration plots, gaining deep insights into good agricultural practices (GAPs), water management, soil health improvement, and biodiversity conservation. 🌿 💦 During the event, the participants also interacted with farmers to understand their experiences, the challenges they have faced, and the benefits they have gained from implementing the Pragati model. Comparative visits between Pragati and non-Pragati farms allowed attendees to observe measurable improvements in farming methods, productivity, and environmental sustainability. The farmers also shared success stories on how sustainable practices have enhanced soil fertility, optimized water usage, and improved overall yields—thereby reinforcing the long-term value of the programme. ✅ Solidaridad Network | Solidaridad Asia | Sustainable Castor Association | Arkema | BASF | Jayant Agro-Organics Limited (JAOL) | Prashant Pastore | Ajay Sharma #SustainableCastor #FieldVisit #MultistakeholderApproach #GoodAgriculturalPractices #WaterManagement #BiodiversityConservation

On International Women's Day, Solidaridad organized a comprehensive health camp at Alina Private Limited, Guindy, Chennai. The camp, held in collaboration with Equitas Bank and funded by the European Union under the SWITCH ASIA project, was a key component of the “Promoting Circularity in Tamil Nadu Leather Clusters for Solid Waste Management” project. This project directly benefits 100 SME tanning units while actively ensuring the participation of women in the leather supply chain. 🩺 👷♀️ The camp provided free health check-ups, expert medical consultations, and awareness sessions on women’s health and wellness, addressing critical health concerns and emphasising preventive care. Women workers had access to diagnostic services, personalised health counseling, and guidance on maintaining long-term well-being. 👩⚕️ 👨⚕️ 🗣️ “The theme ‘Accelerate Action’ reinforces the urgent need to empower women with access to quality healthcare. Their well-being is fundamental to the sustainability and growth of MSMEs. We are proud to partner with Equitas Bank and our collaborators to create impactful interventions that support women’s health and empowerment,” said Venkaiah Vadlamudi, technical consultant, Solidaridad Asia. Apart from the camp, the day also witnessed the launch of a skill development programme with several partners: Leather Sector Skill Council (LSSC), Council for Leather Exports (CLE), Central Footwear Training Institute (CFTI), Indian Finished Leather Manufacturers and Exporters Association (IFLMEA) , Tata International, International Polytechnic for Industrial and Economic Development (PISIE), and A. V. Thomas Group. ✅ This initiative will train 300 unemployed women, equipping them with 200 hours of specialized job training, enhancing their skills, and paving the way for sustainable employment and green jobs within the leather supply chain. The initiative's objectives are in alignment with SDG 3 (Good Health and Well Being), SDG 5 (Gender Equality), and SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth). 🎯 Solidaridad Asia | European Union | SWITCH-Asia Official | LEATHER SECTOR SKILL COUNCIL (LSSC) | Council For Leather Exports - India | Central Footwear Training Institute - India | IFLMEA IFLMEA | Tata International Limited | PISIE | A.V.Thomas Leather & Allied Products Pvt.Ltd | Equitas Small Finance Bank | Tatheer Zaidi | Vadlamudi Venkaiah naidu | Naina Rajkumari #InternationalWomensDay2025 #HealthAndWellness #HealthCamp #WomenEmpowerment #SkillDevelopment

Solidaridad observed International Women's Day in multiple project locations in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, India. The events brought together nearly 300 rural women entrepreneurs who are driving change in their respective communities through small businesses and agri-based enterprises. 👩🌾 🥗 The aim was to provide training, guidance, and motivation to women to start and grow their ventures. Through interactive sessions and skill-building workshops, the sessions aimed to build confidence among the participants, enhance their knowledge, and develop a strong network of women entrepreneurs. ✅ 🗣️ "I am glad that I was a part of this event. I have been running a small business of pickles, chips, and other homemade snacks, and I got a chance to put up a stall here. We had some great sessions where we learned how to grow our business and handle challenges. It was really useful, and I’m definitely going to use these ideas to give a boost to my business," said Jyoti Yadav, an entrepreneur from Mungaliya Chaap village, Bhopal district. Solidaridad Asia | Neha . | Dr.Suresh Motwani | Prema Sharma #IntenationalWomensDay2025 #WomenEntrepreneurship #WomenEmpowerment #SkillsWorkshop #Agribusiness

Supporting a family of 12 on a meagre annual income of ₹65,000–₹75,000 must have been tough for 55-year-old Jaypal Singh Bengera, but he had little idea of how to turn things around. He used to cultivate rice and vegetables on his three-acre farm using a significant amount of chemical fertilisers and pesticides. ❌ It was only when the Smart Agri Project reached his village of Karanji in Odisha's Cuttack district that Jaypal saw a ray of hope. The project introduced him to good agricultural practices, multicropping, the system of rice intensification (SRI) method, and the use of digital weather and crop advisories via the Smart Agri App. 🌾 📲 🌻 🥔 Today, Jaypal grows sweet potatoes, sunflowers, groundnut and pigeon pea, in addition to rice and vegetables. The diversification in cropping is helping him earn as much as ₹1,50,00 (cumulatively) in a year against an investment of ₹40,000. By adopting the SRI method (involving alternate wetting and drying), he has also been able to cut down water-use by half, while increasing his rice yield by more than one-and-a-half time, compared to last year's. He is also preparing organic fertilisers and pesticides, such as jeevamruta and agneyastra, on his own, saving ₹2,500 (per acre) on his previous expenditure on chemical inputs. 💦 💸 With the increased earnings, Jaypal seeks to make improvements to his farm – a power tiller for ease of sowing, a borewell for better irrigation, and a solar fence to keep wild animals away. “The multi-crop model has helped me get better yields on the same area of land. Now my family can eat healthily, and we can also contribute to a healthy society,” he says. ✔️ Solidaridad Asia | Smart Agri Project | Dr.Suresh Motwani | Gyana Ranjan Sarangi | Naina Rajkumari #FarmerStories #StoriesOfChange #FromTheField #RegenerativeAgriculture #GoodAgriculturalPractices #DigitalFarming #AgriTechSolutions

Tea plucking has, traditionally, been a labour-intensive process. Further, the quality of leaves is inconsistent with the presence of branches in the harvest. The low quality produce fetches low earnings for small farmers. ❎ 🧑🌾However, young tea farmers in Bangladesh are breaking from tradition by employing machines for harvesting. For Nazmul Huda, one such farmer supported by Solidaridad, the decision to shift from manual to mechanical harvesting has resulted in an improved quality of leaves, better prices, and significant savings on time and labour. 🌱 ✅ 🔎 Know more about Nazmul's transformative experiment here: Solidaridad Network | Solidaridad Asia | Shatadru Chattopadhayay | Selim Reza Hasan | Ipshita Habib | K. M. Faisal Naeem #SustainableTea #SmallTeaFarmers #Mechanisation #MachineHarvesting #ManualHarvesting #PathwaysToProsperity

Knowledge of sustainable farming methods and financial management have helped the women of Nehas Liah Bing village in Indonesia drive a remarkable transformation. 🌿 👩🌾 ✔️ Read their inspirational story here: Solidaridad Asia | Solidaridad Indonesia | Yeni Fitriyanti | andie wibianto | Suksma Ratri #MondayMotivation #LongRead #RegenerativeAgriculture #ThePowerOfCooperatives #HydroponicFarming #WomenEmpowerment

#InternationalWomensDay2025: On International Women’s Day, we celebrate the daily, ordinary lives of women in agriculture as much as we pay tribute to the extraordinary. 👏 42-year-old Moilin Abas migrated to Sarawak, Malaysia, after her marriage, bringing with her a love for oil palm farming which she had inherited from her parents during her childhood in the state of Sabah. In Sarawak, the hardworking, enterprising Moilin soon converted a four-hectare-large piece of land into an oil palm plantation, managing every single operation singlehandedly. 👩🌾 🌴 💧 Moilin’s day starts at 7 in morning, seeing off her children and husband, before heading to the farm, where she works for 12 hours, performing duties ranging from weeding to pruning. After her shift at the farm, she has to tend to her household duties. “It is a tough routine, but it has also allowed me to become independent and a breadwinner,” says Moilin. During critical situations, she has even lent a portion of her savings to her husband. 💸 Solidaridad has supported Moilin with knowledge on good agricultural practices and sustainable farm management. By incorporating practices such as arranging frond stacks (for improved nutrient absorption), minimising herbicide use and using eco-friendly pest- and disease-control measures, and employing a weeding machine, she has been able to enhance the efficiency of her cultivation and enjoy increased yields. “The farming I do by myself is a matter of immense pride for me,” Moilin states. ✅ (All photographs by Rinie Suliman) Solidaridad Network | Solidaridad Asia | Solidaridad Malaysia | Maria Ariessa | Rinie Suliman #InternationalWomensDay #WomenEmpowerment #WomenInAgriculture #FarmerSnippets #SustainablePalmOil #RegenerativeAgriculture

Why regenerative agriculture? 🌿 It's a question of significant importance to practitioners of this system. Particularly, in India and Africa, where nearly 3 billion people face nutritional insecurity, regenerative agriculture offers long-term solutions that go far beyond a simple increase in yield or incomes. 👩🌾 👨🌾 ✍ A special report, jointly authored by Kritika Banerjee (Senior Communications Manager, Solidaridad Network) and Shoba Suri (Senior Fellow at Observer Research Foundation), lays forth the evidence for adopting regenerative agriculture. More specifically, in both African and Indian contexts, the rationale for embracing regenerative agriculture is stronger and more urgent than ever before: ▪️15–30% increase in crop-yields in water-scarce regions ▪️25% reduction in irrigation needs in semi-arid areas ▪️Rise in water retention up to 150% ▪️Annual increase in carbon sequestration by 1.5–5 gigatons ▪️Annual addition of US$70 billion to Africa's gross value added (GVA) by 2040 ✅ 👉 Read the whole report here: https://lnkd.in/gu7_7Z2v Solidaridad Network | Observer Research Foundation | Shatadru Chattopadhayay | Dr. Nilanjan Ghosh #SpecialReport #RegenerativeAgriculture #Agrobiodiversity #FoodSecurity #NutritionSecurity #LongRead