It’s not very often you get to speak with the CEO at the helm of a global organization driving sustainability around cotton farming! In these trying times, where issues like climate change, and the ubiquitous rural poverty can feel so overwhelming and grim, a talk with Alan McClay, CEO of Better Cotton, based in Geneva, is like a breath of fresh air! His optimism, passion and insight give us all hope that if we continue to chip away, a better world awaits us all …

Traditionally, indigenous practices have ensured the health of farmlands and maintained fertility of soil. Adding farmyard manure, rotating crops, sprinkling ash, and many other such techniques have kept India's soils - which have always been low in nitrogen - at an optimum level of fertility.

Worms & Farm Waste, and the art of vermicomposting, are providing farmers with more sustainable and environmentally friendly methods of fertilizing fields, whilst simultaneously helping them build viable businesses to diversify and bolster incomes.

Ram Jethabhai Mulubhai has made some bold decisions in his life. On completion of 12th standard, he enrolled himself in a 5-year Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree, and decided to become an artist! Pretty bold for a humble farmer’s son!

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.

“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.