Sona Welfare Foundation

Pakistan has approximately 60% of its population being food insecure. One reason of this is the lack of modern farming techniques to increase output and producing off-season vegetables and fruits. Dependence on seasonal crops and vegetables limits the availability of food items in the country with additional items required to be imported. The other reason is poverty since majority of the population is unable to afford food thrice a day.

Our solution is engaging rural women, who have been trained on kitchen gardening already, on tunnel farming by providing them required funds to set up a tunnel farm so that they can produce out-of-season quality vegetables and fruits with higher productivity to improve food security in the area and improve their own financial conditions.

This will improve supply of food items in off-season, financial conditions of rural women who can utilize earned resources to further improve their living conditions. 

Our solution aims at addressing two problems at hand, one is food insecurity and other is poverty. As per FAO approximately 820 million people around the globe are food insecure which makes up 12% of the global population. In Pakistan almost 60% of the population is food insecure with 45% of the children younger than 5 years of age being stunted. Pakistan ranks 77th in Global Food Security Index. Women and children suffer the most from food security with only 15% of Pakistan children consuming minimal acceptable diet.

Lack of availability of adequate food items and dependence on seasonal crops worsen this issue. Pakistan produces more wheat and rice than its consumption however there is less focus on producing essential food items such as vegetables.

Moreover, poverty also causes food insecurity since families do not enough finances to feed themselves. Almost 40% of Pakistan’s population lives below poverty line means. The situation is even worse for women who make up barely 30% of the total workforce in the country. 

Our solution is to engage 10 rural women from District Rahim Yar Khan, Pakistan who have been trained on kitchen gardening already by our organization and they are practicing it successfully. These women will be trained on tunnel farming by our partner organization Flow Engineering Technologies and funded through this grant to set up tunnels for vegetables on their own land or land acquired on lease. Our organization will also arrange special training sessions by agri experts who will further guide these women on tunnel farming. Tunnel farming is used to produce out-of-season vegetables and fruits at higher productivity, less consumption of water as well as pesticides and fertilizers. This technique not only ensures increase in yield but also reduces use of inorganic products on crop. This will be a pilot program that can be replicated on a larger scale to improve food supply in the country and reduce poverty at the same. Our partners will also provide market access to these women to sell produce and earn livelihood. The combined effect will be increase in food supply and decrease in poverty at the local level. 

Women of the target areas are traditionally involved in household chores. They comprise of 50% of the population and are deprived of education, economic, social and political opportunities pivoted at their inability to contribute substantially through tangible means of earning.

For women, strong patriarchal make-up of the society and long standing customary practices constrain women to take up opportunities for income generation without leaving their homes or leaving accompanied, hence narrowing the already lean circle of opportunities. The phenomenon of ‘feminization’ of poverty most appropriately conveys the status of women in the merged areas.

The overall crude rate of labour participation in the areas is just 40%. Female labour force participation rate is only 25% compared to 55% for male.

Our solution will provide an incredible opportunity to small scale women entrepreneurs in the project areas to learn best practices for High Valued Vegetables, Fruits and Cash Crops through Tunnel Gardening. More importantly the entrepreneurial training, and financial inclusion will help them manage their earnings. Most of all the project through SWF’s hub called “FACE” (Food and Agriculture Centre of Excellence” will provide them the opportunities for micro-credit, seed money, mentorship, extensive training, market access, branding, revenue generation.

Small scale farmer is consumed in producing traditional crops using orthodox methods with low yield and poor quality produce. Our solution aims at enlightening the local women to take up a piece of land, provide them with training, inputs so that they can invest in high profit making vegetable crops. According to a study, one acre of tunnel farming produce can yield 40% more profit than once acre of land used for traditional crops such as cotton or wheat. Therefore, our solution will support small scale women farmers to access inputs, capital, knowledge to improve yields and earn a livelihood. 

Our solution is based on the modern agriculture technique of tunnel farming whereby out-of-season crops are grown in controlled environment inside polythene tunnels. As it is not possible to grow summer vegetables in open fields from December to February due to frost as well as winter vegetables in summer due to heat, therefore, these are grown in tunnels using controlled environment producing higher yield and better quality.

Using this technology, the supply of vegetables can be ensured in off-season which will reduce the import bill of the country (if used on larger scale), prevent price inflation of vegetables in off-season due to less supply, make vegetables accessible to the masses and provide a modern solution to small scale farmers to increase farm income and reduce poverty.

Since our solution addresses the challenge of food security and poverty, an alternative solution applied is focusing on small scale farmers by providing them input support and knowledge on crops like wheat, rice, maize and sugarcane. It helps the small scale farmers improve yield, prevent pest attacks and increase farm income, however, our solution is innovative and different since it focuses on essential food items that are less focused upon in Pakistan. Moreover, the profit margins in tunnel farming are higher than traditional crops.

More importantly, our idea of training women and implementing solution through them is not possible in traditional crops, whereas, tunnel farming is done on a relatively small scale in a protected environment, therefore, it is more feasible

Low Tunnel kit

Low tunnels are essentially miniature versions of high tunnels, usually two to four feet tall at their peak and four to six feet wide. Length varies, but less than 30 feet is recommended for small areas. Low Tunnel are generally made from GI pipe/steel wire as a main Frame with moon Shape structure. This low tunnel frame is covered with Plastic Poly film sheet which is weighted down to the ground or buried rather than attached to the structure. Black poly film used for Mulching.

The combination of using the aforementioned technology yields following advantages:

• Higher prices at times when other field crop growers do not have same produce

·         Year-round production & income, excluding three months (December-February).

·         High quality indeterminate crop grows upwards, instead of spreading on ground

·         Small farmers with small cultivating area can increase their income three times more than traditional crop

·         Year-round employment for labors

·         Get more exposure to sun and green color, have demand in market

Tunnel
farming is an accepted practice in the agricultural countries and its success is
well known modern agriculturalists. Link of tunnel farming is provided. A paper
on tunnel farming by National Bank of Pakistan is also given

Our theory of change is to bring in practice of modern agriculture techniques to replace the orthodox ones and utilize female workforce to bring about this change. In this way we aim at addressing two problems at the same time.

We believe in this theory of change due to the positive results we have received through kitchen gardening training and implementation carried out by our organization in the small town of Pakistan. Women were provided free seeds and 85% germination rate has been achieved by those women using the training given to them. This clearly shows that the rural women are eager to learn and implement new techniques that are provided to them.

The use of tunnel farming technique serves an ideal opportunity to the rural women living in an agrarian society to contribute to the household income while staying within the social norms and cultural practices of these areas. This practice will not only make them self-sufficient regarding food requirement but also provide them extra profit margins to improve living standards.

Our continuous support starting from initial trainings, provision of funds to setup tunnels, cultivation training, granting market access through partners will ensure that these small scale female farmers are successful. These women will be an inspiration for thousands of other rural women who can replicate their success to earn livelihood and fulfill the food needs of this country.

Our organization will ensure that more and more rural women in different parts of the country can start practicing modern farming techniques through our microfinance partners, agri experts. Moreover, the beneficiaries of this solution will also be aided for further scale up through our partner organizations.

The problem of food insecurity can be tackled through this solution to a great extent. As mentioned earlier, a large chunk of population is malnourished since it does not consume required food items. Availability of vegetables throughout the year will ensure that they get to the dinning table of the masses.

Our solution stage one as mentioned earlier includes kitchen gardening training and implementation to 40 rural women in District Rahim Yar Khan. Upon our survey, 33 have been fully practicing kitchen gardening whereas remaining 7 were implementing it partially. Average household size in Pakistan is 7 to 8 therefore it can be safely mentioned that as of now around 250 persons and 40 household are being served.

Once stage two of our solution through this grant support is implemented which is tunnel farming. 10  selected rural women will start selling produce to the market and if on average on acre of land is used for tunnel, it can provide livelihood to over 100 people including labor and household members of these women.

We aim to provide financial assistance through grants such as these and microfinancing scheme to 10 women every year so by five year we will have 50 rural women running tunnel farming business with each requiring 5 persons per acre in labor and selling. Therefore, the total number of persons employed through our solution will be more than 250 in five years.

Whereas, thousands of people will be fed the produce throughout the country

Pakistan is an agrarian economy with over 50% of its labor employed in the agriculture sector. 51% of Pakistan’s population is women however their share in total workforce is merely 14%. Our solution aims at presenting a viable and practical opportunity for the rural women who are not well educated to apply themselves in the agricultural sector using modern farming techniques taught to them by experts. Once the model is successfully implemented on a small scale by our organization, then on relatively bigger scale within five year time, the same will serve as an inspiration for thousands of rural women across the country. The additional livelihood connected with this solution will be a motivation for rural households.

Living standards of rural women and their household members will improve through additional income and they will graduate from below poverty to above below poverty line levels.

Above all the practice of tunnel farming on a large scale will be a revolution in the food security aspect of the country. The malnourishment caused by the lack of availability of essential vegetables and high prices in off season can be tackled through high productivity, lower cost of business, better quality and relatively lower prices of vegetables. It will help serve millions of people in rural and urban parts of the country.

1. Lack of adequate funds available for training, implementation and monitoring of the solution. Our organization is a not-for-profit organization engaged in various projects around the country. It is primarily funded by our parent organization Fauji Fertilizer Company (FFC), however, due to funds utilized in other projects and financial constraints during the pandemic, the financial side of the solution is a barrier.   

2. Farmers will be reluctant to give up land used for traditional crops to be used for tunnel farming. Moreover, they are used to orthodox techniques and switching to modern farming techniques will also be complicated for them.

3. Traditionally rural women in Pakistan are involved in household chores. Our solution involves engaging them in a proper work routine which will be a problem in some instances due to cultural barriers. Convincing families and their heads will be a task at hand.

4. Program expansion beyond this grant solution and other parts of the country is also a barrier. A complete model needs to be devised in this regard.

5. Creating market linkages, produce storage and transportation from production area to bigger cities for selling so that maximum profits can be earned by the growers is also a barrier that needs to be addressed.

1. The primary reasons for applying for this challenge is to obtain additional grant/funds for this solution. Our organization will also contribute funds . If we are able to obtain this grant, it will enable to implement the program as per plan.

2.    We have a well-knitted community presence including progressive farmers, community leaders and local influencers who will be engaged. Farmer meetings will be conducted to deliver message to the farmers, different in profit margins will be communicated to convince them.

3.    Local women influencers, community leaders and partner organizations working for women welfare in the designated areas will be engaged. They will visit nominated 10 women and others to provide them knowledge of this solution and the benefits attached to it. Their family heads will be invited to FACE Office for training and detailed briefing.

4.    Our organization will engage its microfinance partners to provide soft loans to future beneficiaries. A business model will be developed according to which percentage of profit will be utilized to pay off loan installments. Funds and grants will be engaged to fund future expansion.

5. FACE-FFC will carry out market research study to identify potential buyers of the products. RYK, Multan, Bahawalpur and Lahore will be taken into consideration. Idea will be presented to medium to large scale grocery stores. MoU will also be signed with prospective buyers so that a formal supply chain is developed. FACE-FFC through its banking partner organization will open up bank accounts for all the beneficiaries. 

We are a team of 11 working full-time for Food Security and Agriculture Center of Excellence (FACE). Our team involves our Head of Department, Agri Expert, Communication Officer, Finance Officer, Strategy and Planning Officer, Donor Outreach and Collaboration Officer, Field Manager, Field Coordinators. 

We also have partner organizations and their staff of 3 personnel working with us on all projects. 

Our parent organization Fauji Fertilizer Company (FFC) is the leading stakeholder in the agriculture sector of Pakistan. It's agri-services department which is our partner in this solution has provided modern farming solutions to over 2 million farmers since 1984. These solutions include free soil and water testing, guidance on when, how and what amount of fertilizer and pesticides to be used, harvesting techniques and what seed to be used for better yield. 

Therefore, we have a significant presence among the farming community of the country and have developed a close working relationship with them over the years. Moreover, the presence of our agri experts in the field provides an ideal opportunity for this solution to be successful since they will be providing continuous guidance to the farmers implementing this solution. 

Our other partner Flow Engineering Technologies has successfully executed tunnel farming models in the province of Sindh, therefore, they will also bring in right expertise to the solution. 

Our organization also has microfinance partner on board for beneficiaries to scale up their business. 

Our combination of agriculture background, experience in agri solutions, presence among farmers and modern farming technique will enable us to implement this solution in a successful manner. 

Fauji Fertilizer Company-Agri-Services Department: Their agri experts are always available to train our registered farmers on modern farming techniques.

Agri Extension Department, Government of Punjab: Their experts are available to guide further on techniques known to them such as tunnel farming, drip irrigation and provision of seed.

Flow Engineering Technologies: They provide modern farming solution.

Alight Pakistan: They have strong community network in the target area and help us register farmers.

Our business model is to engage our agriculture partners on our own cost, who will train the women regarding tunnel farming. The grant obtained through this challenge will be utilized to hand out funds to beneficiaries indirectly. Vendors associated with tunnel farming setup will be paid through our organization and the tunnels will be setup for each beneficiary. Input support in the next step which will also be done indirectly as per requirement. Once the produce is ready, the packaging and storage support will be also be provided along with creating market linkage. The revenue will start coming in for every beneficiary. Each beneficiary will be required to use at least 70% of the earned revenue back on the tunnel farm to grow crops for the next season with minimal financial support from our side. In case any beneficiary does require additional financial support, it will be done through our microfinance partners. In this a sustainable model can be created for the beneficiaries.

The customers will be retail stores that are looking for quality vegetables in the off-season and during season as well. We will ensure quality and quantity through our modern farming techniques so that the customers will get value for money and our growers can earn maximum profits. 

As stated earlier in one of the barriers that our organization is looking for a partner to financially support the solution and provide funds for implementation and execution of the said solution. Since MIT Solve Challenge pays huge importance to Food Sustainability, therefore, we feel that our solution fits the bill and can enable the rural population to not only provide the local population with food items in the off-season but also pull themselves out of the menace of poverty. 

If our solution is accepted for funding, the same can be replicated at a larger scale with the help of other donor agencies as well as our microfinance partners by funding inputs and setting up model farms for training. 

Our main reason for applying for MIT Solve Challenge is to establish a long term relationship with a credible institution and to share knowledge regarding social welfare initiatives taken up by our organization so that the same maybe improved through your support and guidance. 

Our partnership goals are to obtain the resources we feel our organization lacks. It includes financial support, solution technology and expertise in sectors such as health and education. 

For this solution we are mainly reliant on our partner to provide financial support for the execution of the program as stated in the previous section. 

We would like to partner with international organizations on water management, water conservation, modern farming techniques to improve yield and product quality, seed research and supplier organizations, health and education organizations. 

We aim at providing a complete social framework to the society we work in including livelihood support through solutions of this sort, education and health support and any other support that may arise due to calamity or emergency. 

Women of the target areas are traditionally involved in household chores. They comprise of 50% of the population of our target district and are deprived of education, economic, social and political opportunities pivoted at their inability to contribute substantially through tangible means of earning.

For women, strong patriarchal make-up of the society and long standing customary practices constrain women to take up opportunities for income generation without leaving their homes or leaving accompanied, hence narrowing the already lean circle of opportunities. The phenomenon of ‘feminization’ of poverty most appropriately conveys the status of women in the merged areas.

The overall crude rate of labour participation in the areas is just 40%. Female labour force participation rate is only 25% compared to 55% for male.

Our solution will provide an incredible opportunity to small scale women entrepreneurs in the project areas to learn best practices for High Valued Vegetables, Fruits and Cash Crops through Tunnel Gardening. More importantly the entrepreneurial training, and financial inclusion will help them manage their earnings. Most of all the project through SWF’s hub called “FACE” (Food and Agriculture Centre of Excellence” will provide them the opportunities for micro-credit, seed money, mentorship, extensive training, market access, branding, revenue generation.