Arya.ag and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Lead Charge for Climate-Resilient Agriculture at Rith Summit 2.0

Arya.ag, India's largest integrated grain commerce platform, in strategic partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, successfully hosted the second edition of the Rith Summit on 3rd October 2024 at the India Habitat Centre in New Delhi. 'Rith Summit 2.0: Building Climate Resilience Together' brought together leading agribusinesses, technology providers, international experts, and development institutions to explore partnerships, programmes, and practical technologies that can enhance climate resilience within the agricultural sector. The summit provided a platform for experts to connect, share knowledge, and discover innovative solutions to help secure a sustainable future for farming communities.

The summit commenced with a welcome note from Anand Chandra, Arya.ag's Co-Founder and Executive Director, who emphasised the importance of a market-led model that benefits every stakeholder to make agriculture climate-resilient. "In our experience building India's largest and only profitable agritech company, we have learnt that it is impossible to make agriculture climate resilient unless we create a market-led model that benefits every stakeholder. This is also not possible unless all stakeholders come together and commit to doing their part in this direction, and that has been our philosophy behind Rith," Anand stated.

Chattanathan Devarajan, Co-Founder of Arya.ag, shared the significant progress made on the actionable points from Rith 1.0, including establishing Public-Private Partnerships to reduce food loss, fostering multi-stakeholder collaborations for climate action, and developing a digital platform for sustainable sourcing. "In the backdrop of Rith 1.0, we enabled Public-Private Partnership (PPP) models in collaboration with the state governments of Uttar Pradesh and Assam to contribute to climate action. These initiatives have reduced food loss by 7%, enabled the conservation of 12 million litres of water, and saved 48,000 kgs of fertilisers," he shared.

Siddharth Chaturvedi from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation highlighted Arya's proactive approach to action, stating, "Reflection and action are crucial, and gatherings like Rith are essential. Adaptation is constant and applies universally, especially in the context of climate change—it is at the core of Arya's ethos. The language of adaptation must shift from beneficiaries to encompass business people who are both producers and consumers."

Raman Wadhwa, Director of DAY-NRLM at the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India, emphasised the importance of collaboration in driving climate action. "Collaboration is key to making our efforts more climate-resilient. No one can tackle this alone; we need multi stakeholder partnerships to drive climate action. The climate crisis is an urgent threat, and the economic cost will be enormous if we don't act. However, we can turn this challenge into an opportunity," he said.

Sangeeta Dawar from Bayer Crop Science stressed the need for substantial funding to drive large-scale market transformation. "Climate change is one of the greatest challenges we all face today, and substantial funding is required to drive large-scale market transformation. According to a global survey of 2,000 farmers, 75% recognize the reality of climate change and agree that adaptation is necessary," she said.

Subhadeep Sanyal from Omnivore highlighted the urgency of implementing new solutions in the agriculture sector. "In agriculture, if we don't prioritise sustainability in relation to nature, it will directly impact our assets and, consequently, the market. Economic sustainability is a key factor for us when evaluating investments, with our focus being on increasing farmers' income and providing them better access to finance," he said.

Prasanna Rao, CEO & Co-Founder of Arya.ag, discussed the evolving role of Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) and how Arya is committed to supporting their transformation into Smart Institutions that leverage technology to improve efficiency and promote sustainable farming practices. "We believe FPCs can evolve into Smart Institutions, which leverage technology to improve efficiency in input sales and output procurement and offer a diverse range of services. Smart FPCs will also play a crucial role in building climate-resilient value chains by promoting sustainable farming practices and through corporate collaborations to support sustainable sourcing of produce," Prasanna explained.

The summit featured three insightful panel discussions, covering topics such as bridging corporate objectives with practical realities, key learnings from early adopters of sustainable practices, and maximising impact through technical assistance. The panels were moderated by esteemed industry leaders and featured panellists from renowned organisations, including Khedut, Bayer, Olam, LD, BMGF, IDH, UNDP India, Rainmatter Foundation, IFC, Omnivore, responsAbility, Rabo Foundation, and Tata Trusts.

"Climate change poses significant challenges to the agricultural sector, and it is crucial that we come together to find practical solutions that can help build resilience in farming communities," said Prasanna Rao at Arya.ag. "Rith Summit 2.0 aimed to facilitate collaborations and knowledge sharing that can lead to the development and adoption of innovative technologies and practices for sustainable agriculture."

Rith Summit 2.0 attracted participation from key stakeholders in the agricultural sector, including farmers, agribusinesses, policymakers, researchers, and development organisations. The summit generated actionable insights and forged partnerships that can drive positive change in the face of climate challenges.