New Women on Wings’ business partner Prem Samriddhi Foundation was founded in 2018 and is headquartered in Bundi, Rajasthan. The foundation works on conservation and promotion of indigenous millets and seeds with small and marginalized women farmers. It provides holistic support services encompassing on-farm conservation and cultivation, capacity building, popularization of indigenous varieties, market linkages, participatory research and development. In September 2022, Prem Samriddhi Foundation and Women on Wings have started collaborating on their joint goal of increasing the number of jobs for women in rural India.
Improving soil and increasing farm productivity
Prem Samriddhi Foundation (Prem Samriddhi) was founded out of a desire to enhance the income of small, marginalized women farmers. The farmers were facing a deterioration of the soil because of the use of fertilizers and pesticides and endured a decrease in profitability. Prem Samriddhi started working on conservation and promotion of indigenous millets and seeds with the women farmers thus increasing farm productivity and reducing costs. The foundation helps marginalized farmers to improve the soil quality, creating indigenous multi crop systems to reduce single crop dependency.
It is the ambition to promote and implement organic farming by being actively engaged in the conservation of biodiversity and promotion of chemical free farming. Another aim is to create awareness among consumers about health benefits of consuming indigenous seeds and millets to tackle the issue of nutrition deficiency. This is all embodied in the mission to organically conserve 1,000 varieties of indigenous seeds, by engaging 100,000 marginalized women farmers in indigenous seed cultivation.
Supporting an all women FPO
Prem Samriddhi is currently working in the two Indian states Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. It also provides consultancy services to set up or strengthen agriculture programs to individuals, corporates, and NGOs. The main strength is the large network of organic farmers and seed savers across the country. They rely on a sound rapport with community and community institutions working in their project areas.
Prem Samriddhi is directly supporting one women farmer producer organization (FPO), Samriddhi Mahila Crop Producer Company, which has more than 2,300 shareholders, to strengthen their activities and market linkages. Samriddhi Mahila is an ‘all women FPO’ which means that all shareholders are small and marginalized women farmers.
