Bhubaneswar: The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the Government of Odisha, and S4S Technologies as the technology partner, have unveiled the Solar 4 Resilience (S4R) initiative for building resilience and livelihoods of women and small-holder farmers through solar-based technologies.
The launch, event held in Ganjam, saw participation by officials from state, district, and block levels, including Collector Ganjam Mr. Dibya Jyoti Parida, Representative and Country Director WFP in India Ms. Elisabeth Faure, and private sector partners and community representatives.
“We are very excited about this partnership between WFP and Odisha government as the project seeks to make an impact in critical areas of farmers’ income, especially women, sustainability, and environment protection. The innovation and approach of the initiative take a holistic approach from processing to marketing, which is much needed,” said Mr. Parida.
“Solar 4 Resilience project is implemented with the support of the WFP Innovation Accelerator and is aligned with the strategic focus that WFP and Odisha government have on strengthening livelihoods and long-term food security, in a world impact by adverse impacts of climate change,” said Mr Faure.
Some of the highlights of the project include building capacities of women farmers’ collectives for alternative livelihoods and improved incomes and building resilience through inclusive and gender-transformative approaches. The vision of the project is to support the scale-up of the initiative across states for the long-term benefits to the communities vulnerable to climate change.
The project will provide women with solar-drying technology used to dry vegetables, millet, fish/seafood, and other perishable food that would otherwise be wasted. The women will receive low-interest loans from banks to purchase the equipment. The women are expected to emerge as micro-entrepreneurs through training in financial management and quality assurance, and access to markets for processed food.
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