The Mosaic Company, 2012 Sustainability Report
Mosaic Villages Project
Smallholder farmers in many areas of the world
are trapped in a cycle of pover t y. Generally living
on one acre of land or less, they of ten struggle
simply to feed themselves — much less generate
a surplus of food. With the world’s ever-growing
population, helping smallholders become more
productive is imperative.
Since 2008, The Mosaic Company and The
Mosaic Company Foundation have invested
in programs in Guatemala, India, Mali, Ghana,
Nigeria, Malawi, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania
and Ethiopia, along with our par tners, HELPS
International, the Sehgal Foundation and
Millennium Promise. The average yield across the
Mosaic Villages Project has increased three to
five times over traditional farming practices.
India
In India, there is a strong and direct relationship
among agricultural productivit y, hunger and
pover t y. Many farmers struggle to produce
enough food on small parcels of land — in fact,
more than 70 percent of Indian farmers have
only two hectares of land or less. In Mewat, one
of India’s most impoverished districts, Mosaic has
par tnered with the Sehgal Foundation’s Institute
of Rural Research and Development (IRRAD) to
create
Krishi Jyoti
.
Krishi Jyoti
means “enlightened agriculture,” and
it’s bringing modern agricultural inputs and
practices to farmers in Mewat with the goal
of improving the productivit y of their fields.
Mewat is a closed communit y with lit tle contact
with the outside world. Similar programs in the
past have failed due to a top-down mentalit y
and a resulting lack of trust in the program
sponsors. The
Krishi Jyoti
team is taking a more
collaborative approach that treats the locals
as par tners. Working side by side with farmers
in Mewat, this program is building trust and
collaboration while helping achieve increased
agricultural yields, economic securit y and water
conser vation.
In its first three years,
Krishi Jyoti
focused on five
key aspects of agricultural improvement — soil
health, seed and fer tilizer, water resources,
agronomic training and market linkages — and
brought about remarkable changes. With the help
of Mosaic’s products, agronomic exper tise and
financial suppor t, Mewat’s par ticipating farmers
have increased yields by 25 to 30 percent in all
three major crops — mustard, wheat and pearl
millet. The par tnership is for a fixed term of
Food
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