Infosys Foundation to boost rural livelihood in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana

BENGALURU: Infosys Foundation has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with NGO Sahakara Mitra Samstha to enhance livelihood of the farming community in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

The philanthropic arm of Infosys has pledged Rs 5 crore to the NGO, also known as Center for Collective Development (CCD), to work on increasing revenue and profits of farmers and create awareness about sustainable agricultural practices by adopting efficient business models.

CCD will also aim to build sustainable farmer co-operative societies and facilitate pooling, processing as well as the sale of produce in two districts of Andhra Pradesh (Anantapur and Chittoor) and one district in Telangana (Adilabad), a company statement said.

It will also work towards bringing in new co-operatives from different areas to strengthen the federation activities of its association, set up new processing units and enable the creation of a district level forum where farmers can voice their issues, the statement added.

As part of its ongoing efforts towards rural development, the foundation intends to influence the livelihood of more than 15,000 small and marginal farmers through the work done by co-operatives under the CCD, it said.