Planet under Pressure

tion model, farmers have a sustainable
water infrastructure for growing more
and better harvests and are no longer
hostage to droughts and erratic rainfall.
Lakshmi Sajjan, a farmer from Rakkasagi
Village in Karnataka, participated in the
Ramthal Community Irrigation program.
She said: “Before drip irrigation, we used
to get good returns only if it rained well.
When rains failed, we lost investment
on seeds, fertilizer, and labor cost. With
no other option, we were forced to sell
our land to repay our loans.”
In the words of Mahantesh Halabar, a
farmer in Belgal Village: “This project
has helped us better our living standards.
Because of an assured two crops and
guaranteed returns, young farmers are
returning to the villages.”
Through policy support and cross-sector
collaboration and solutions development,
we can help farmers to mitigate the growing
challenges of climate change. We can
make it economically viable for smallholder
farmers to receive the modern drip
irrigation systems and digital farming
tools, and the agronomic knowhow
and training needed to achieve higher
sustainable farming incomes. By increasing
incomes, farmers and their families
can gain access to better sanitation,
education, and healthcare in a way that
balances economic, social, and environmental
sustainability. Our core message
is one of empowerment and optimism.
Putting simple-to-use technologies in the
hands of farmers really does transform
the lives of so many while supporting
Netafim’s mission – to Grow More with
Less TM !
Ramthal, India, Community Irrigation project – training farmers
Ramthal, India – women make up 50% of the agricultural labor
force in the developing world.
NETAFIM’S COMMUNITY IRRIGATION PROJECTS ADDRESS THE FOLLOWING
10 SDGs:
Goal 1: No poverty – by transforming subsistence farmers
into commercial farmers and increasing farmland productivity
and income per farmer.
Goal 2: Zero hunger – by eliminating dependency on rain and
increasing agricultural yields.
Goal 5: Gender equality – by empowering women, who make
up 50 percent of the agricultural labor force in the developing
world.
Goal 6: Clean water and sanitation – by saving water for AG
(responsible for 70 percent of global usage) and preserving
its quality through integrated water resource management.
Goal 8: Decent work and economic growth – by increasing
crop yields and the adoption of modern farming skills and
capacity-building of farmers, farming becomes economically
and professionally attractive to a younger generation,
increasing incomes for family-run farms.
Goal 9: Industry, innovation and infrastructure – by developing
a new path to Digital Farming and related technologies.
Goal 13: Climate action – by reducing agriculture’s negative
greenhouse gas impacts caused by flood irrigation.
Goal 15: Life on land – by combating desertification and
transforming arid land into green and arable land.
Goal 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions – a world with
less hunger, equitable water distribution, less farmer debt,
and land constraints is a world with fewer conflicts and
stronger farming communities.
Goal 17: Partnership for the goals – by bringing together
public and private entities to achieve massive transformation
and by facilitating partnerships between farmers and markets
for their produce.
Global Goals Yearbook 2020 129