SHL Medical supports the 'Water Drop Initiative', introducing Spowdi Smart Farming to India's SEWA Sisters
The ‘Water Drop Initiative’, supported by SHL Medical, is introduced in India to enable women micro-entrepreneurs and small-hold farmers to transform their practices towards regenerative farming, reduce dependencies on fossil fueled energy, and be economically independent.
Small-hold farming contributes to one-third of global food production. To make our food systems sustainable, small-hold farmers must be able to grow more food using less water and move away from fossil fuels.
Towards this effort, the ‘Water Drop Initiative’ was initiated to enable a shift towards regenerative farming. The initiative, enabled by SHL Medical, began on November 1st, 2021 and is now being rolled out in five states of India.
Under this initiative, Spowdi, in collaboration with the SEWA-supported Grassroot Trading Network for Women, have initiated the ‘Train the Trainer Programme’. The programme aims to provide education and training for SEWA grassroots members and enables them to become experts in ‘Smart Farming’. To support these women, SHL Medical is initially making a USD 100,000 contribution to buy Spowdi irrigation systems and training hours available to the SEWA grassroots members. The goal is to provide them with tools and knowledge for ‘Smart Farming’.
"In our core operations, enabling patients’ independence is our purpose and guiding principle. Building on this, we have made a difference in the quality of life for millions. We are pleased and proud that through our involvement with Spowdi and the Water Drop Initiative we are now reaching even more people outside our core business, empowering them to manage their livelihood more self-sufficiently", says SHL Medical CEO Ulrich Faessler.
Presently, the Water Drop Initiative is being implemented in India’s states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan.
As a next step, the initiative aims to provide small-hold farmers with tools and knowledge to produce more food on existing farmland. This knowledge sharing will be carried out by the trained SEWA grassroots members, also known as SEWA Sisters.
SEWA or the ‘Self Employed Women’s Association’ promotes economic independence among women from low-income groups and is the largest organization of informal workers in the world, with 1.9 million women as members.
“Smart Farming is about growing more food with less water, and without dependence to fossil fuels, like diesel. Spowdi is both delighted and humbled to have the opportunity to work with the SEWA sisters, whom I have had an opportunity to interact with during the ‘Train the Trainer Programme’. Their commitment and enthusiasm towards the initiative is commendable. This collaboration helps all of us get closer to meeting the SDGs and Climate Action goals,” says Henrik Johansson, Founder of Spowdi.
Additionally, the ‘Water Drop Initiative’ seeks to enable financing solutions for small-hold farmers and micro-entrepreneurs via various farming institutions, based on the principle ‘offering farmers a fair deal’.
“Such result-oriented collaborations are crucial to create a climate positive impact. The SEWA sisters are optimistic that this initiative will propel small-hold farmers towards green farming, higher yields, climate resilient sustainable livelihood and greater self-reliance” says Devesh Shah, CEO of Grassroot Trading Network for Women (GTNfW), the SEWA-backed network which is leading the initiative on the ground.
Collaborations are crucial to create a positive impact. Spowdi, SHL Medical, and SEWA-GTNfW are optimistic that this initiative will ignite small-hold farmers towards fossil-free farming, higher yields, profitability, and greater independence.
What is the Water Drop Initiative?
The Water Drop Initiative enables stakeholders to sponsor a CSR project, giving small-hold farmers and entrepreneurs the possibility to transform their farming practices towards regenerative farming, reduce dependencies on fossil fueled energy and to be financially sustainable by cutting their production costs.
Would you like to enable a transformation towards fossil-free farming and support small-hold farmers and women micro-entrepreneurs? Your organization can get involved in this CSR initiative.
For more details, get in touch with Anders Andersson, VP, Spowdi at anders.andersson@spowdi.com
To learn more about SHL Medical's support to the Water Drop Initiative, click here https://www.shl-medical.com/shl-medical-partners-with-spowdi-for-the-water-drop-initiative/
About Spowdi:
Spowdi is a green-tech company driving the evolution of agriculture, small-hold farms, by powering drip irrigation with the help of the sun. The company was founded in 2016 and its globally patented technology enables small-hold farmers secure an efficient and profitable food production system, save water, and leave the fossil-fuel era behind.
About SHL Medical:
SHL Medical is a world-leading solutions provider in the design, development, and manufacturing of advanced delivery devices such as autoinjectors, pen injectors, and wearable drug delivery systems. We offer final assembly, labeling, and packaging solutions for our drug delivery devices, and also provide contract manufacturing and engineering services for the production of complex medtech and industrial products.
About SEWA & GTNfW:
SEWA of the Self-Employed Women’s Association is the world’s largest association of informal workers, with 1.9 million women as members across India. SEWA works to ensure its members are collectively self-reliant and economically independent. Grassroot Trading Network for Women (GTNfW) is a Section 8 company promoted by SEWA. GTNfW works towards green energy access at affordable prices for creating sustainable green livelihoods for SEWA members.
For questions please contact:
Ann-Sofie Bergort Chief Marketing Officer ann-sofie.bergort@spowdi.com
Rupali Mehra, PR and Communications India rupali.mehra@spowdi.com
Spowdi is a green-tech company that is innovating ways to move and save water, using the sun as only power source. Its patented solution enables small-hold farmers worldwide towards regenerative farming, produce more food with less water, and remove dependencies on fossil fuels – enabling profitable, independent, and sustainable food production. Spowdi’s vision is to protect the planet and generate more food for a growing population. Spowdi is currently present in India and Europe.
