10 NGOs in India Working in the Agriculture Sector To Help Farmers

Farming, as we all well know, is a challenging profession. For several years, farmers have had to find creative solutions to a variety of ecological challenges. Because of this, they’ve become incredibly adaptable individuals over the years. However, at the same time, the same age-old obstacles continue to remain an issue for many modern farmers. 

On top of this, new challenges have arisen in recent years due to changes in the climate and global economy.

More than half of the population of India depends entirely on agriculture for a livelihood, and most of these are small and marginal farmers. Farming has always been the most important economic activity and the backbone of India 

Factors like poor infrastructure, lack of modernisation and declining productivity have hampered Indian farmers from breaking out of the cycle of debt and poverty. Each year, thousands take their own lives due to crop failure and the inability to repay debts. 

Over the years, Indian farmers have been responsible for ensuring food security for the country, but most of them are now toiling in the fields with little to no luck. Several nonprofits work closely with agricultural communities, encouraging sustainable farming methods and improving their lives. 

Here are 10 NGOs that are helping farmers grow better crops and creating a sustainable livelihood: 

Aahwahan

A Bengaluru-based NGO, Aahwahan plans on developing an infrastructure that can be used by our farmers to grow and cultivate crops most effectively and efficiently. It plans on developing an independent mindset in our farmers regarding seed procurement, better irrigation and the overall development life cycle of the corps. 

The collaboration with universities helps this young NGO bring about innovations in the field of agriculture which are not only affordable but also one-of-their-kinds. Aahwahan wants to lay the stone of never before seen agricultural innovations and become the best carrier of agricultural innovations not only for India but for the world.

The organization educates farmers and aims to break the middle layer of agricultural dalals who exploit farmers and take advantage of their unawareness by providing minimal prices for the crops.

The organization says, “By removing this middle layer between the farmers and the customers, we are automatically changing 50 % of the agricultural sector that exists now and providing our farmers with a hope for a better livelihood, a better life.”

Image source: Aahwahan Foundation

End Poverty 

This NGO was started in 2009 with the purpose of poverty reduction in India. End Poverty aims to do this through sustainable livelihood creation, girls' education, rural development and civil society development. It is a civil society organization working towards sustainable livelihood creation with an active people participation approach. 

The nonprofit has been working in the states of Rajasthan, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi. Its main beneficiaries are poor, landless agricultural Indian farmers, small and marginal farmers, traditional artisans, poor women, uneducated girl children, unemployed youth, etc. 

It provides capacity building and training to support diverse groups. 

The organization says, “We are empowering farmers by strengthening the processes at the grassroots level. The Sustainable Farming programme enables farmers to adapt to technological and methodological innovations, enhancing their income by setting up a sound access benefit-sharing mechanism. They also help to increase farm/dairy productivity, facilitating credit linkage and linking them to markets.” 

In the last three years, End Poverty has carried out development works of over ₹60 crores benefitting nearly 24,000 people.

Swades Foundation 

Swades Foundation operates to empower rural India by incorporating innovative practices and the use of modern technology. It aims to empower one million rural Indians every 5-6 years through holistic development with a focus on health, education, water and sanitation, and economic development.

The organization says, “We connect rural communities with corporates, young urban India, not-for-profit organizations and governments, enabling marginalized communities to improve their lives.”

Through their On-Farm Programme they are bringing more cultivable land under assured irrigation, thus enabling farmers to sow economically viable crops like vegetables in the rabi season, and increasing productivity and survival percentage of existing and recently planted orchards. 

Their 1,600-member team includes 1,300 community volunteers and 300 full-time staff specialists and professionals working at the grassroots level. More than 25,000 farmers have benefited from their efforts. 

Image source: Swades Foundation

Universal Versatile Society 

The Mumbai-based NGO is into several critical areas such as agriculture, environment, rural development, education, and women empowerment. Its mission is to serve the communities by connecting the donors with community-based projects and using its expertise to promote sustainable development projects. 

The efforts of UVS are directed towards preventing farmer suicides by providing basic education, raising awareness, imparting employable skills, infrastructure development and small enterprise development, leading to income generation and employment opportunities in a sustainable way.

Since its inception, UVS is actively engaged in EcoVillage building to address environment, education, agriculture, energy consumption, mental health, and women empowerment thematic areas through people’s participation in Washim district, Maharashtra. The work of the organization is accompanied by sound fieldwork, research, and monitoring of each activity that was undertaken. 

Gramya Resource Center for Women

Founded in 1993 to promote women’s rights, Gramya’s vision is to create a just society with equal opportunities for women, especially tribals and Dalits. In the rural areas, Gramya works for the well-being and rights of the farming community, by addressing the crisis of farmer suicides and assisting victims’ families. Their collective efforts are helping thousands of distressed farmer families.

The organization says, “Our main focus is to develop models of sustainable agriculture, with a gendered approach.” 

Gramya also promotes child rights with a focus on the girl child and education and works closely with community-based organizations to seek justice for marginalized communities.

Image Source: Universal Versatile Society

Dilasa 

Established in 1994, Dilasa works in close cooperation with several smaller NGOs in Maharashtra’s Vidarbha and Marathwada regions. It advocates innovative and sustainable irrigation methods to support agricultural development for tribal people and small Indian farmers. 

The low-cost technical solutions provided by Dilasa help the farmers improve irrigation methods and practice mixed cropping.

Dilasa has also created 7,650 self-help groups (SHGs) for women to encourage organic farming. The organization says, “We also run a farmers' support centre to inform them about various government schemes.”

So far, over 125,000 people have directly reaped the benefits from its programmes and over 100,000 others have been positively affected.

Marathwada Navnirman Lokayat (MANAVLOK)

Headquartered at Ambajogai, Maharashtra’s Beed district, MANAVLOK was established in 1982 as a voluntary organization dedicated to the socio-economic upliftment of the rural poor. It operates through seven sub-centres in Beed, Latur and Osmanabad districts. 

MANAVLOK aims to achieve equality in the lives of women, landless laborers, and the farming community.

Its endeavors comprise community-based monitoring programmes, watershed development programmes, Trupti Kitchen for senior citizens, Krushak Panchayat, a free legal aid center and others. MANAVLOK also works in the areas of sanitation, provides relief services for the victims of natural disasters and monitors and evaluates government schemes and programmes.

The organization says, “Currently our activities for farmers include dam Desilting and silt excavation. Over 4 million silt has been excavated which has impacted over 8000 hectares of farm and benefited more than 10,000 villagers.” 

Image source: Dilasa

Watershed Organization Trust 

WOTR is a well-established organization in Maharashtra that is engaged in comprehensive rural development initiatives. It focuses on agriculture, allied sector development, climate change adaptation, watershed, natural resource management, social development, training, and capacity building.

The organization says, “We are dedicated to transforming the lives of millions of poor villagers across India through participatory watershed development, ecosystem restoration, and climate-resilient, sustainable agriculture.” 

They enhance farm productivity and profitability; make farming practices climate-resilient and nature friendly, and work with communities to arrest land degradation. Their climate-resilient agriculture approach helps farmers mitigate the risks of climate change, reduce the cost of cultivation, increase productivity and enhance their adaptive capacities.

It also has a special emphasis on building vulnerable communities, farmers, and women.

Vrutti 

Active for over 23 years, Vrutti has significantly improved the lives and livelihoods of over one million poor and marginalized individuals and households. Vrutti’s efforts are directed towards improving people’s well-being through knowledge, innovation and transformative actions. It adopts an ecosystem approach to integrate and deliver end-to-end services that empower small producers to become profitable and escape poverty.

Vrutti has focused on working with farming communities as agriculture is the primary source of livelihood for over 50% of Indians, and over 70% of farmers are smallholder producers. 

The organization says, “We revved up our direct engagement with farming communities from 2010-2011 when we piloted, and subsequently developed a proof of concept for the “Agriculture Enterprise Facilitation Centre” (AEFC).” 

Their work has scaled up from two districts in Madhya Pradesh and 2,000 farmers to 9 districts across six states and over 42,500 farmers. The model is constantly evolving and growing, with its latest avatar being the 3 Fold Model – which involves intensive engagement with farmers and their institutions.

Professional Assistance for Development Action (PRADAN)

Founded in 1983, PRADAN works in the area of rural poverty alleviation by promoting sustainable livelihoods in rural pockets, particularly among tribal and vulnerable groups. PRADAN’s interventions in agriculture have helped 651,748 smallholder farmers achieve year-round food-nutrition security and also earn steady cash income from market-led synchronized agricultural practices.  Their work also includes integrated natural resource management to build resilience to water variability caused by climate change.  The organization says, “We have designed methods ranging from small-scale on-farm water control measures to selecting crops that utilize residual moisture and are more adaptive to water stress and water surplus conditions. Farmers adopt eco-friendly technologies and use weather prediction tools made available by PRADAN to diversify production risks and adapt crop choices.”   PRADAN has promoted 65 Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) till the last financial year and is a Cluster Based Business Organisation in the Government of India's '10,000 FPO programme'.