28/09/2026
Last week, we were privileged to be part of "Solving for the Transition Challenge", a national dialogue on enabling women-led transition pathways towards natural farming among climate-vulnerable smallholder farmers organized by Swayam Shikshan Prayog - SSP in Viswa Yuvak Kendra, New Delhi.
The central question of the day was why farmers who already know the value of natural farming still hesitate to adopt it. The answer that emerged: awareness is not the gap. The gap is a credible, low-risk way to begin.
The dialogue took up this challenge in two parts:
🔹 From Awareness to Adoption: what it will take to scale natural farming among smallholder farmers
🔹 Women as Catalysts of Change: how women's leadership can accelerate and sustain the transition
We were grateful to hear from Shri Charanjit Singh (Former Additional Secretary, Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India), Dr Shraman Jha (CEO, Hindustan Unilever Foundation) and Shri T. Vijay Kumar, IAS (Former Special Chief Secretary and Advisor, GOVERNMENT OF ANDHRA PRADESH). We also heard from Amit Khurana (Centre for Science and Environment), Abhijeet S. Kamble (PoCRA: Nanaji Deshmukh Krushi Sanjivani Prakalp,Mumbai), Avimuktesh Bhardwaj (Back to Village), Suranjana Gupta(Huairou Commission), Dr Paavani Sachdeva(Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW)), and the women farmer leaders whose lived experience anchored every conversation.