Knowledge is Power

Female dairy farmer in India shares training, strengthens community.

Sustainability|Dec.21, 2017

Every woman has a story to tell. For small dairy farmer Savita, hers has become one of empowerment.

Savita lives in Ozar, a village in western India, where her family’s dairy farm provides both nutrition for her family and a source of income. Like most farmers in the Indian dairy industry, Savita has had little training on farming techniques and business practices before entering the marketplace. As a result, their cows often produce low-quality milk – and not much of it – which in turn leads to low income. Farmers like Savita tend to live from one milk collection to the next, rarely able to get ahead or invest in their futures.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, when women have the same access to productive resources as men, their farms yield between 20 percent and 30 percent more than before. That's why investing in women is key to strengthening communities.

Knowledge is Power

In partnership with India supplier Prabhat Dairy and TechnoServe, a non-profit organization that promotes business solutions to poverty, Abbott is putting its scientific and nutrition expertise to work by providing training and education to up to 1,500 dairy farmers – including women like Savita. It's all designed to improve the quantity and quality of milk these local farmers produce – which helps them meet the growing demand from consumers and companies like Abbott. That's what shared value is all about.

Not only does Savita's family business now benefit from this program, but she's also able to pass this acquired knowledge along to her community and future generations. It's the proverb "Each one, teach one" brought to life.

To find out more about how Abbott is supporting farmers like Savita, click here.

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