Sustainable Development Goals
SDGs & Our FPO: A Model for Sustainable Rural Transformation
Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) are emerging as the backbone of rural India, with over 44,000 registered FPOs representing nearly 60% of the country’s farming community. At the same time, the Sustainable Development Goals are a global framework adopted by nations worldwide to address shared challenges such as poverty, inequality, climate change, biodiversity loss, and sustainable livelihoods. For FPOs working at the grassroots, these global goals translate directly into local action. As a progressive FPO, our work is closely aligned with six core SDGs—SDG 1, 5, 8, 13, 15, and 17—which reflect both global priorities and the lived realities of farming communities across India. By converting international commitments into measurable, village-level interventions, we are developing a scalable and replicable model that contributes to India’s progress while also supporting the global SDG agenda. Strategic partnerships with institutions, corporations, and development agencies are essential to strengthening this model and positioning our FPO as a role model for sustainable agricultural development worldwide.
SDG 1 – No Poverty
As a progressive FPO, we believe that reducing rural poverty begins with stable and dignified employment. We focus on creating year-round livelihood opportunities for daily wage earners, especially women, by promoting small cottage-based agro industries. This enables women and girls to shift from physically strenuous field labour to safer, well-managed work environments with better working conditions. At the farm level, we have introduced mechanisation across the value chain—from ploughing and sowing to harvesting and transportation—reducing drudgery, improving productivity, and increasing household incomes
SDG 5 – Gender Equality
Our FPO represents farmers and farm labourers, where a majority of agricultural labour is carried out by women and girls. We actively address gender-based wage disparities by ensuring equal pay for equal work, in line with UN SDG-5. Beyond employment, we prioritise women’s economic participation by offering more job opportunities to women than men wherever possible. Our commitment goes beyond the field—women are integral to our governance structure. Currently, women hold three positions on our Board of Directors, and nearly 32% of our shareholders are women, reflecting our belief in inclusive leadership and shared ownership.
SDG 8 – Decent Work and Economic Growth
Agriculture in rural India is highly labour-intensive and often characterised by low productivity and informal working conditions. Our FPO advances SDG-8 by promoting decent work through mechanisation, skill development, and technology-led agriculture. By adopting modern farm machinery across production and post-harvest operations, we improve efficiency, reduce drudgery, and create safer, more organised work environments. Alongside this, we encourage the development of small cottage-based agro enterprises that generate stable, year-round employment. These interventions enhance farm profitability, strengthen rural livelihoods, and contribute to sustainable economic growth within our member communities.
SDG 13 – Climate Action
Climate change poses a growing threat to agriculture through rising temperatures, unseasonal rainfall, and extreme weather events. To build climate resilience, our FPO conducts village-level awareness camps involving farmers, youth, and local communities on climate-resilient crop varieties and adaptive cropping practices. We actively promote changes in cropping patterns to withstand climatic stress. As part of our mitigation efforts, we encourage agroforestry and native tree plantation. Since 2020, we have distributed over 10,000 native saplings every year—such as neem, teak, shisham, and mahua—with increasing scale each year, prioritizing women, youth, and marginalized communities.
SDG 15 – Life on Land
Our FPO places strong emphasis on addressing biodiversity loss, deforestation, and land degradation. With over 150 years of collective farming experience across member families, we have witnessed a significant decline in soil health, particularly soil organic carbon, following prolonged reliance on chemical fertilisers such as urea, DAP, and NPK. This has also contributed to increased weed pressure and the emergence of new pests harmful to crops. To reverse this trend, we have established an in-house advanced soil testing laboratory and actively promote organic inputs and natural farming practices. We are currently developing a Bio-Input Resource Centre within the village to ensure farmers’ access to organic fertilisers. These efforts aim to restore soil health, enhance biodiversity, improve crop quality, and sustainably increase farmer incomes.
SDG 17 – Partnerships for the Goals
Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals requires collective action across sectors. Recognising that challenges such as climate change, land degradation, gender inequality, and rural poverty cannot be addressed in isolation, our FPO actively seeks partnerships with corporate entities, government institutions, development agencies, and non-profit organisations working on SDG-aligned initiatives. We focus on six priority SDGs that are directly linked to our farming communities and local ecosystems. Through strategic collaboration, technical support, and financial assistance, we aim to scale proven grassroots interventions and deliver measurable, community-led impact. We invite like-minded organisations to partner with us in building resilient livelihoods and sustainable rural ecosystems.