NEW DELHI: Ten thousand small farmers in Andhra Pradesh are set to benefit from the introduction of sustainable irrigation products and practices under a program offered by International Development Enterprises - India (IDEI) and supported with funding from the Walmart Foundation. The Walmart Foundation will provide $750,000 to an irrigation project of International Development Enterprises - India (IDEI) aimed at raising the income of 10,000 small farmers in 10 districts of Andhra Pradesh, it was announced here on Wednesday.

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The program aims to introduce sustainable irrigation products and practices and create a complementary support ecosystem that will boost farm yields, reduce negative environmental impacts, and increase market access and small farmer income. The programme is expected to generate an additional $7.4 million in annual farming income in the state at the end of the project period, with individual gains of $400 per smallholder farmer household per year. Substantial water savings in agriculture are also anticipated, amounting to 33.4 million m3 of water saved for the state during the programme.

More than 62% of the population of Andhra Pradesh are dependent on agriculture and lack access to irrigation systems or other technologies to help them improve their productivity and income. "Income poverty affects 1.3 billion people around the world and is a huge challenge. But simple solutions, like affordable modern irrigation, can make a massive difference. We have already helped more than 8 million people of farming families improve their output and standard of living, and we are determined to now do the same for tens of thousands of smallholders in Andhra Pradesh," IDEI Chief Executive Amitabha Sadangi said. The IDEI grant is a part of the Walmart Foundation’s commitment, announced in September 2018, to invest US $25 million (approximately Rs 180 crores) in philanthropic initiatives to improve farmer livelihoods in India over the next five years.

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