A non-profit organization set up in the US, Save Indian Farmers was formed with its focus on farmer suicide related issues. Hemant, one of the founders, says, “the idea was formed out of a need for change”. The organization also focuses on helping farmer families across India with short-term, mid-term and long-term projects.
Use Case They Use:
About 4 years ago, Hemant and a group of volunteers based in the US realized there was a need to address the growing number of farmer suicides. And that’s how Save Indian Farmers was conceived. A non-profit organization set up in the US, Save Indian Farmers was formed with its focus on farmer suicide related issues. Hemant, one of the founders, says, “the idea was formed out of a need for change”. The organization also focuses on helping farmer families across India with short-term, mid-term and long-term projects.
They are currently working on proactive projects – such as water conservation & organic farming – and reactive projects – such as helping widows of farmer suicides start their own small business. They are also supporting strategic ventures such as farmers’ self-help groups, organic farming & farmers’ co-operatives. All their projects are run with the aim of long-term self-sustainable solutions for farmers.
The team frequently receives updates about the families they help and monitor their progress to keep their donors updated about how their one-time donations have benefited these families.
Their vision is to build a rights-respecting society in India and to mobilize efforts through public support.
Hemant says, “the future is hard to predict and even harder to speculate about”. Save Indian Farmers hopes to be the voice of Indian farmers and provide long-term sustainable solutions that become de facto standard of modern age nonprofits.
Farmers are the backbone of the Indian economy. More than 60% of our country depends on agriculture in one way or another. One of the gravest problems that the community faces is farmer suicides. In 2014 alone, 5,650 farmer suicides have been reported by National Crime Records Bureau of India. And farmer suicides account for 11.2% of all suicides.
So, why isn’t enough being done to help these farmers? Why are they resorting to such drastic measures? Can we not help in any way possible?
“Save Indian farmers” has been started with the primary objective of spreading awareness regarding farmer suicides and to support the families of victims. They also fund projects that will help farmers and their families in the long run.
Problem
When farmers from India tried to reach out to Hemant and his team through poor & limited internet access, they decided it was time to get a solution that was far simpler.
Solution
They decided calls were their way out and that’s when Exotel came into the picture. “We think this is a great start as we get to talk to each farmer and understand their problems/questions better”, says Hemant.
They are running their pilot program in Maharashtra. “Exotel has allowed us to run this pilot program in Maharashtra”, says Hemant.
Impact
Using Exotel has helped the Save Indian Farmers team to save at least 16 families in the drought-hit areas of Maharashtra. If their plan is successful, they plan to expand this program to other parts of India.The farmers will have the choice to reach them in their local languages and get answers to questions from various government bodies, agricultural universities as well as local NGOs.
Exotel connects farmers and their families who need assistance with members of Save Indian Farmers. The farmers call a virtual number where they can leave a voice message. The members of Save Indian Farmers then get back to the farmers and help solve their grievances.
We needed a simple solution to reach farmers and Exotel’s team helped us make it happen.
Hemant Joshi
Secretary, Save Indian Farmers