When Hari Singh was just 16 years old, he lost his hand in a fodder chopping machine. It took his parents almost 1.5 hours to reach the nearest hospital on their only vehicle – a tractor! But the gentle Hari is far from bitter about it. Despite his challenges, he has become a passionate advocate of organic farming - dedicating his life to educating farmers about it.

India is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to climate change risks, and nowhere will the impacts be felt more acutely, than in the area of water – particularly in water stressed rural areas, where livelihoods so desperately rely on natural resources, like water, for survival.

A third of the world's soil is moderately to highly degraded, threatening global food supplies, increasing carbon emissions and foreshadowing mass migration. In India, soil erosion and degradation are widespread across the largely agrarian nation - putting our food security, and the livelihood of millions of farmers, at threat. A change in farming practices has never been more urgent.

Sourav Mukherjee is a key driver of the goat based livelihood, and women empowerment programs for Ambuja Foundation in Farakka West Bengal. To say the least, this man is passionate about goats – having seen first-hand how goats have the ability to lift families directly out of poverty – and has no problem talking your ear off on the subject when you show even the slightest bit of curiosity.

In the terrain of Darlaghat, water is the most common challenge due to the pressing issues of soil erosion, eradication of the green cover, and reduction in agricultural produces in the hills. To address these issues, Ambuja Foundation collaborated with NABARD and developed a Ridge to Valley approach and worked on proper management of agriculture land and drinking water availability.

When people talk about India’s water crisis, stark images of the deserts of Rajasthan and the dry, dusty interiors of Maharashtra come to mind. But India’s water woes are relentless—leaving no corner of the country untouched in its wake.

Sankrail in West Bengal saw an exciting development. Many farmers who received support from Ambuja Foundation to manufacture Vermicompost have discontinued it. However, one farmer, Hanif Sheikh, continued his efforts and today has become a vermicompost entrepreneur. He sells around 12 tons of Vermicompost after holding back 2 tons for his consumption. He started with two composting pits provided by Ambuja Foundation in 2008 and has since added another four.

Apoorva Oza is one of those people you speak to who leaves you in awe of his experience, knowledge, and perspective on all things agriculture and rural development – the man’s depth of understanding on the subject, and humble, down-to-earth nature, is something to behold.

An independent impact measurement study initiated by Ambuja Foundation’s research team in 2021, highlighted that the land under Ambuja Foundation’s Wadi project in the tribal block of Bali, in the Pali district of Rajasthan, has doubled income for farmers, in comparison to the land area of other seasonal crops.

"Globally, cotton farming has had a bad reputation. For its overuse of pesticides. For child labor. On all fronts, cotton has had a lot of cleaning up to do. As a cotton-growing country, the situation in India was no different - at Ambuja Foundation, we struggled to change the ingrained practices of farmers - who were damaging the environment and barely surviving, in the process.

Ambuja Foundation kick-started organic farming promotion in 2010 in Bhagwanpur block in Uttarakhand. Today, the district is home to the Bhu Amrit Farmer Producer Organisation, a collective of organic farmers who work across the entire value chain of organic production, certification, and marketing. With 667 farmer shareholders, the group produces a variety of products and has commenced marketing them in key markets such as Delhi, Gujarat & Punjab, and has even moved their products online, via Flipkart and Amazon.

“Farming is often a subsistence business and that's what it was for me! But little did I know that I was burning away cash every time I burnt the stubble from my crop. Once I understood that the waste material could actually be used as a biomass fuel, and earn me additional income, I threw myself into it. I started supplying mustard husk as biomass, and then gradually also provided shredded juliflora as a biomass – employing 15 people for 8months of the year along the way.