Currently, most women farmers sell their produce alongside the highway. It is so hot in the mid-day sun that they can't set up until 4 pm, leaving little time till the sun sets and selling becomes impractical. A solar food cart will allow one of the women's agribusiness we support to market their wares in shifts in the city, and by decreasing heat and increasing humidity, keep the produce fresh for up to five days, Benefits include a better income, more nutritional value, and less food waste.
As climate change leads to more drought, women farmers in southern India can barely support themselves and their families on what they grow. When they try to sell their meager harvest along the highway, the heat limits their hours and wilts their produce. The wet gunny bags and sprinkled water they use to try to keep it fresh accelerates spoilage and leeches out vitamins. Post-harvest food waste takes a heavy toll on the women's subsistence income, and on efficient use of resources.
Along with each cart, we will give the women a cell phone loaded with an app they can use to notify customers what they will be selling that day and where. This technology & the cart's mobility will mean more sales for less work. The solar cooling and humidifying features of the cart keep the produce fresh and nutrient rich much longer, increasing sales still more. We expect the carts to increase income at least 25% and reduce food waste to almost zero.
By empowering rural women to feed their families better and earn the money to send their children to school and obtain adequate health care, we will raise up the whole village. The reduction in post-harvest food waste will supply the community with food that is both healthier and cheaper, and will make the most efficient use of the land and the resources used to farm it.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a FundraiserEvery microproject is intended to use the donations it receives in accordance with its stated description; however, it is important to provide project leaders with the flexibility to maximize the potential benefit from the donations they receive. This means that your donation may be used as a part of the main project that supports this microproject, specifically Support an agribusiness run by 20 Tamil women. In this event, the project leader is required to post an update to the microproject detailing the results and reasons behind this change.
If you or any other donor is unhappy with the way their funds have been used, he or she can reallocate their donation using the GlobalGiving guarantee.
