Seventeen years is a journey marked by significant milestones and measured in trust built slowly over time, that has resulted in bountiful harvests, harnessed water, changed lives, and more.
Change doesn’t always move in straight lines, is often invisible, and always negotiated. Sustainable development to be realized must be led by the communities themselves.
Krishi Jyoti (enlightened agriculture), a partnership between Mosaic India Pvt. Ltd. and Mosaic Company for Sustainable Food Systems together with S M Sehgal Foundation, began in 2008 with a simple intention: to support farming families so they could grow better, earn more steadily, and live with dignity. With an overarching theory that agriculture is the center of rural life, and strengthening it can unlock change across many dimensions, Krishi Jyoti has grown alongside the communities where the work is done.
What began as a focused agricultural project expanded gradually into water management, better nutrition for women, supporting schoolchildren, and strengthening local institutions. The emphasis has remained on relevance, presence, and learning as conditions change. This is what seventeen years of sustainable development looks like on the ground.
Where the Work Took Root
In many villages, farming is more than a livelihood. It shapes food availability, school attendance, migration patterns, and community confidence. Krishi Jyoti’s early agriculture development efforts focused on everyday practices, building on what farmers were already doing and identifying small adjustments that reduce risk.
As the work expanded into regions across seven states, one reality became clear early on: no single approach works everywhere. Soil behaves differently. Rainfall patterns vary. Social relationships shift from village to village.
Rather than imposing uniform solutions, the project adapted to the needs. This flexibility allowed local action to align naturally with broader sustainable development goals.
Working with Small and Marginal Farmers
For small and marginal farmers, every decision carries weight.
A delayed monsoon, an unsuitable input, or a failed experiment can undo an entire season’s effort. With limited and fragmented landholdings, the margin for error is narrow. Land size directly influences how much risk a farmer can afford.
Krishi Jyoti chose to work alongside farmers to address these realities.
Instead of pushing for immediate adoption, farmers were encouraged to observe, compare, and decide. Learning occurred in the fields over the seasons, not through external instruction.
Challenges were discussed openly, including soil quality, long-standing traditional practices, and dependence on weather and timing.
Acknowledging these constraints helped to build trust with small farmers. Over time, that trust translated into willingness to try, adapt, and share their learning with others.
Tools, Technology, and the Capital Question
Tools change outcomes when they fit local realities.
Much agricultural equipment is designed for larger landholdings, which often limits their adoption by small farmers due to cost, maintenance, and usability. Krishi Jyoti focused on tools suited to small plots and encouraged shared use through local entrepreneurial farmers and groups.
Adoption was gradual. Confidence developed through training, peer learning, and repeated use. Comfort with new tools was built over time.
Along with the use of equipment came an important conversation about capital. A focus on soil health, planning and understanding input costs, and making informed choices reduced the need for borrowing money, which was a common last resort. In many cases, improved productivity reduced the need for high-risk borrowing altogether.
Water Management Required Patience
In several project areas, water scarcity was highly visible and deeply felt.
Borewells were dry. Ponds held water only briefly. Fields were left uncultivated because irrigation could not be assured. These long-standing challenges resisted quick solutions. Water management efforts focused on long-term thinking. These included community dialogue, collective responsibility, and structures designed to deliver results over years, not months.
These were not dramatic turning points.
But gradually, groundwater recharge began to show results. Borewells once abandoned showed signs of revival. Ponds retained water longer. Irrigation became more predictable. The lesson remained consistent: shared resources demanded shared accountability.
When Villages Began Deciding Together
Infrastructure alone cannot sustain change.
What strengthened outcomes over time was village-level decision-making. Through village development committees, communities discussed priorities, planned interventions, and reviewed progress collectively.
This shift made the difference.
Instead of waiting for direction, villagers began asking their own questions. What should come first? How should resources be managed? Who is responsible for upkeep? Sustainable development became less about projects and more about process.
Nutrition for Women and Everyday Health
Nutrition conversations did not begin with data; they began in kitchens.
Krishi Jyoti’s work around nutrition for women focused on practical understanding of what a balanced plate looks like, why dietary diversity matters, and how nutrition during pregnancy shapes long-term health.
Discussions were simple and grounded, without technical language, just shared knowledge and everyday examples.
Over time, these conversations led to small but lasting changes at home, healthier women and children, better food intake, and reliance on seasonal food availability and nutritional outcomes.
Such changes endured because they made sense.
Kitchen Gardens and Women in Agriculture
Kitchen gardens became one of the most grounded interventions across villages. They required minimal investment, space, seeds, and regular care. Families growing their own vegetables experienced immediate benefits:
- Regular access to fresh produce
- Reduced household expenditure
- Improved dietary diversity
Women in agriculture played a central role in sustaining these gardens. Many worked collectively, sharing seeds, exchanging ideas, and supporting one another. This collaboration built confidence, not only in food production, but in public participation.
The kitchen garden became more than a source of nutrition. It became a shared space for learning.
Children, Education, and Changing Environments
When livelihoods stabilize, other shifts begin.
As water access improved and farming outcomes became more reliable, families were better able to prioritize education. By upgrading school infrastructures as part of the project, children attended school more consistently, and learning improved. Schools became spaces of engagement rather than obligation.
Children spoke about enjoying school, about playing, learning, and feeling encouraged.
All these changes were enhanced by improved stability across the household.
Local Work, Global Meaning
Krishi Jyoti’s work is rooted firmly in villages, but the outcomes reflect the intent of global sustainable development goals.
Food security. Water access. Empowered women. Community participation. Health. Education.
When communities experience tangible improvements, global frameworks find relevance naturally.
This alignment has been quiet, organic, and deeply contextual.
Looking Ahead
Seventeen years of work through the Krishi Jyoti project has demonstrated that sustainable development is built through patience, humility, and partnership.
There are no shortcuts. No universal solutions. Only steady effort, shared learning, and the willingness to stay present through uncertainty.
Looking ahead, the focus of Krishi Jyoti remains unchanged. Supporting farmers. Strengthening nutrition for women. Protecting water resources. Enabling communities to shape their own paths.
Progress will continue gradually, one village, one season, one harvest at a time.
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