Last year, we invested in Akshayakalpa Organic to support the company’s expansion, with the aim of helping increase productivity and improve income for farmers, and bring more sustainably-farmed products to more consumers in India. Started in 2010, with just three farmers, Akshayakalpa Organic has been transforming the lives of hundreds of farmers, who have seen an average three-fold increase in their monthly revenue. It now works with more than 1,100 farmers across Karnataka and Tamil Nadu states in India.
This week marked a key milestone in our investment with Akshayakalpa as an inauguration was held for their new model farm – Akshayakalpa Velan Kudil or ‘farmer’s home’ in Pooriyambakkam, south of Chennai. Akshayakalpa Velan Kudil looks to promote and support sustainable and regenerative farming and will work with other farmers throughout the region to encourage sustainable farming practices and a mindful approach to agriculture.
The new model farm was inaugurated at a ceremony attended by Oliver Ballhatchet, British Deputy High Commissioner to Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. It replicates Akshayakalpa Organic’s other successful model farm in the Karnataka state in India.
More broadly, the company’s approach is based on gaining the support of consumers willing to pay a better price for high-quality and nutritious organic milk and dairy products. It also provides farmers with multiple sources of income outside the basic revenue from selling milk. And the company has also created new benchmarks for sustainable farm practices that help produce milk and milk products that are free from antibiotics and chemical pesticide residue.
Akshayakalpa Organic is India’s largest organic milk producer in the country catering to more than 60,000 consumers in Bengaluru, Chennai, and Hyderabad. The company aims to reach more than 2,000,000 customers over the next five years.
Manav Bansal, Managing Director and Head of India at BII, said, “The inauguration of the model organic dairy farm is an exciting milestone in our investment with Akshayakalpa and is an example of how our capital can bring about development impact in India. This new farm will not only help to support food security and bring nutritious dairy products to millions of people in India but will improve the livelihood of farmers across the region and inspire the next generation of sustainable smallholder farmers.”
