Ahram Traditional Crops Producers’ Company works with socially marginalized rural producers to conserve biodiversity in the semi-arid Ramnad Plains of Tamil Nadu state. The initiative uses a producer group model focused on women and landless laborers to promote organic farming practices that improve crop diversity and agro-biodiversity. The group’s work has aimed at reducing dependence on cotton cultivation by increasing the commercial viability of farming small-scale crops and harvesting medicinal plants. The company is able to add value to these processes through supply chainodities bought in bulk directly from producer groups. As well as supplying training in organic fa management and secondary processing, thereby guaranteeing a fair price for organically certified commoning practices, the initiative has encouraged the formation of savings and micro-credit self-help groups, as well as supporting fledgling micro-enterprises.
