Wal-Mart and CARE join hands to empower women in India
Wal-Mart and CARE join hands to empower women in India

As a part of their commitment to women's empowerment, Wal-Mart and CARE announced the launch of a Cashew Value Chain Initiative. Over the next year, Wal-Mart and CARE will create a women owned-and-operated community-based institution to provide more equitable and consistent incomes for approximately 750 women in the cashew farming and processing sector in the coastal districts of Tamil Nadu in southern India. "This project will improve economic opportunities for socially and economically marginalised women and girls in southern India through the promotion of women-owned and -managed cashew enterprises," said Raj Jain, Managing Director and CEO, Bharti Wal-Mart. "We are excited about the difference we will make in the lives of these women as we are confident the project will improve their entrepreneurial skills and capacity to directly link to the retail market." The benefits of this initiative will reach beyond the women themselves, impacting the lives of nearly 4,000 people. "CARE is eager to work with Wal-Mart on an issue that is of critical importance in Tamil Nadu, and throughout so many communities in India - the elevation of women from poverty," said Helene Gayle, President and CEO of CARE. Over the next year, the program will help to set up three women-owned and managed cashew processing units and 15 literacy centers. Training programs will be conducted for participating women and their daughters on basic social services, rights and entitlement issues. The program will also establish direct links between cashew producers, the women-owned processing units, and the global marketplace. Cashew is one of the important cash crops of India. There are more than 700 small- scale cashew processing units in southern India, and the sector provides employment to 500,000 people, mostly women.

 
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