CSR For Agricultural Workers

CSR for Agricultural Workers
The evolution of relationship between corporations and society has been one of the slow transformations.
However, the data shows that, very meager amount of CSR fund (only 3%) has been spent in the agricultural
sector by the companies though there is huge potential for investment in the sector.
Investments in agricultural production have the potential to supply developing countries with much needed
capital, contribute to the development of key infrastructure and spread of new technologies. Considering that
agricultural growth has a bigger impact on poverty reduction than other sectors, this trend can be seen as
potentially very positive.
However, the investments also accompany significant risks such as –
 It is risky for the recipient countries’ population, especially for the local communities which were using
the land before it was sold or leased to foreign investors.
 They can lead to expanded corruption.
 Unsustainable land use (land degradation, soil mining).
 Water shortages
 Negatively affect food security in affected regions.
The recent upsurge in foreign direct investments (FDI) in land raises the hope to bridge the gap of decades of
under-investment in developing countries’ agricultural sector, but it may also threaten host countries’ food
security and increase the vulnerability of the rural population.
The scale of the land acquisitions is unprecedented and the pace is increasing and likely to continue to increase
at least in the medium term. There is not only a rush for land, but also for water. Proximity to water and
infrastructure are key selection criteria for investors. Even though the phenomenon is global, Africa seems to be
the prime target of the land rush and most (71%) of the large-scale land acquisitions in Africa are from outside
the continent (18% in Latin America and 14% in Asia).
Some of the top CSR projects for the benefit of farmers in India include –
1. Krishi Mitra – Mahindra & Mahindra, with the help of Swades Foundation, BAIF Development Research
Foundation and Dr. Panhabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth, launched the Krishi Mitra project where
farmers were trained in effective farming practices including soil health, crop planning, creating model
farms with bio-dynamic farming practices, thereby increasing crop productivity.
2. Project Mooo under HUL’s Prabhat Initiative – ‘Project Mooo’ is a part of ‘Prabhat’, a community
development initiative of Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL). The project was launched at Mohi Khurd
Village in Rajpura, Punjab, India. It aimed at creating sustainable livelihoods for farmers by imparting dairy
skills to rural farmers, including women dairy farmers. This included setting up of awareness camps on
dairy as a sustainable business, providing digital & financial literacy, visiting farmers at their doorsteps with
a team of dairy experts and empowering farmers digitally through Mooo Farm management mobile
application.
3. Farmer Support Programme by Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd. – Under this program, Adani
Foundation collaborated with the KVK (Krishi Vigyan Kendra) and took 30 farmers from five villages of
Mundra in Gujarat on an exposure. The Foundation, along with 1,050 farmers from 35 villages of Tiroda
region, effectively implemented an SRI (System of Rice Intensification). In addition to this, the Foundation
empowered the farmers by training them in low-water, labour-intensive and organic methods.
4. mKrishi by Tata Consulting Services – Tata Consulting Services has created mKrishi, a customizable
Mobile Agro Advisory System to enable farmers to send queries specific to their land crop and receive
personalized replies from agricultural experts. The mKrishi service provides information in local languages
on weather, soil conditions, fertilizer and pesticides, the price of grains, and other agriculture-related
advice. Since 2008, more than 20,000 farmers in 400 villages have subscribed to this service. As the
platform uses local language interfaces, including a voice messaging system, mKrishi makes it possible for
illiterate farmers to get access to much-needed agricultural information and advice.
Conclusion: The CSR spending in agriculture is far less in comparison to many sectors such as education,
healthcare, art and culture etc. Also, there is need to put a mechanism to avoid overlap of different schemes by
the Governments as well as CSR projects for the benefit of the different segments of the society.
The provision of mandatory CSR expenditure on agriculture sector may be helpful to bring farm sector out of
distress by way of building and operating large projects to tackle to problem of bottlenecks like cold storage and
logistic infrastructure in agriculture. At the same time, tax exemptions to those involved in operating such
agriculture projects will help increase economic activities in rural areas. More funding to agriculture sector
through CSR has all the potential to address many challenges of the farm sector.
However, it is essential that such expenditure on agriculture must be made responsibly. As part of the UNDP,
the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in collaboration with a wide range of
stakeholders, is currently supporting the development of CSR Guidelines for Responsible Agriculture
Investments. The guidelines are based on the FAO, UNCTAD, IFAD and WB proposed principles for
responsible agricultural investment including transparency, good governance and accountability; social,
environmental and economic sustainability; stakeholder involvement; as well as recognition of domestic food
security and rural development concerns. Such principles should be mandatorily followed by the corporations
while spending CSR fund in the agricultural sector.

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CSR for Agricultural Workers

However, the investments also accompany significant risks such as –

 They can lead to expanded corruption.

 Unsustainable land use (land degradation, soil mining).

 Negatively affect food security in affected regions.

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