SITUATION

India has a long history of trading of spices and continues to be one of the world’s largest producers and exporters. Many valuable spices endemic to the Western Ghats of India contribute to the growth of the spice sector. The Western Ghats are amongst the world's most important Biodiversity Hotspots and one of the main areas for spice cultivation.

Sustainable spice production will strengthen the economic resilience of these farmers. By ensuring long-term demand of good quality sustainably produced spices at a fair price, spice production will become a more attractive option for smallholder farmers, thus creating a continuous supply base of sustainably grown spices.

OBJECTIVE

‘Enhancement of Smallholder Spice Farmer’s Capacities in Sustainable Farming’ aims to strengthen the production of cardamom, cumin, and turmeric in four states of India - Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Rajasthan - to increase the capacities of spice farmers to make production practices more economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable.

The project will support-

• Transfer of knowledge and expertise in innovative agricultural practices
• Promotion of sustainable and biodiversity-friendly spice production
• Engaging more women farmers in cultivation (core initiative) and post-harvest management practices (value-added initiatives)
• Prevention of environmental degradation
• Strengthening spices supply chain for sustainably and organically grown target spices
• Promotion of conservation of natural resources – soil, water, and nutrients
• Production of food-safe spices for consumers

The project is part of the develoPPP.de Programme implemented by GIZ on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The lead executing agency for this project is AVT McCormick. develop.PPP was set up by BMZ to involve the private sector in areas where business opportunities and development policy initiatives overlap.

APPROACH

This will be achieved by implementing Farm Sustainability Assessment (FSA) certification under the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative (SAI) platform for sustainable spice production and subsequently National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP) certification for organic spice production. The FSA sustainability certification is widely recognised and accepted in Europe, as is the case with NPOP organic certification. Many other Sustainability certifications, such as Rainforest Alliance and Fair Trade are considered at par with the FSA silver level of certification.

CONTRIBUTION TO AGENDA 2030

The project contributes to SDG 1 (No poverty), 12 (Responsible consumption and production) and 17 (Right partnerships for the goals). Supporting the project through develoPPP.de enables dissemination of sustainable and organic spice farming practices and agri-business management in India.

RESOURCES

All publications of this project can be accessed via the Resources section

• What, How and When: To learn about the project activities visit our News from the Projects and Media Coverage section and select the topic “Business and Biodiversity”.
• Where: To learn more about our project sites visit our Where We Work section.
• Who: Find our Partners and our Team under the Who We Are section.