SOURCE:3BL Media, LLC
DESCRIPTION:
Imagine a program that provides healthy food to 150,000 students in 1,400 schools, students who are among the most undernourished children in all of India. Turning that idea into reality is why Monsanto partnered with the Akshaya Patra Foundation to work together in Jaipur, Rajasthan, a region with one of the highest rates of undernourished children, especially girls, in India, according to UNICEF. With Monsanto funding, Akshaya Patra, which runs school lunch programs across India, built greenhouses, compost units, and solar dehydrating units for a garden plot to provide a year-round supply of fresh vegetables. The initiative also includes a program that has trained 400 local farmers in modern farming techniques and educated 3,000 school children in the nutritional value of different vegetables.
In a related effort, Monsanto has engaged with another Indian NGO to build infrastructure to increase access to clean water for schools and communities where Monsanto has breeding facilities. Breeding teams near four villages sold off cotton and wheat from their testing locations to raise funds to support new water systems, pipelines, wells, and tanks that provide clean drinking water to 1,400 school children and 11,000 families.
Last week, these initiatives received a “Judges’ Choice” award from a panel of independent, international judges, including myself, as part of Monsanto’s Sustainable Yield Pledge Awards. The projects were chosen as outstanding in social, economic, and environmental effect from over 130 nominations of the company’s global programs.
I’m John Howell for 3BL Media.
Video Source: Feeding Hungry Students in India: Monsanto Steps Up
KEYWORDS: Awards and Recognition, Ethical Production and Consumption, 3bl Media, CSR Minute, Monsanto, Akshaya Patra Foundation, India, Sustainable Yield Pledge Awards, csr