Prakash, 62, struggled to keep up with the workload on his farm. A seed weeder provided by a project by Wells Fargo and WOTR helped ease his burden. His story is about a father’s love and sacrifice for his children’s future.
A Better Tomorrow
Stories, Practices, and Solutions
In Bhandar Kumta, Balaji Laxman Mule and his family have long faced water scarcity, limiting their farming to half the year. With the introduction of farm bunding, their well now retains water year-round, doubling their crop yields and income. The project with Wells Fargo in Bidar has brought profound change, turning their dream of water security into reality and enabling sustainable, year-round farming.
Sunita Jadhav from Bhandar Kumtha village, once struggling with daily wages, found new hope through goat rearing with support from Wells Fargo and WOTR. This venture provided her family financial stability, allowing her to earn a significant income and construct a shed for the goats’ safety.
Through a watershed development project by Wells Fargo and WOTR, Lingi village, including farmer Bapurao Rajendra Patil’s land, transformed dramatically. Water structures like Water Absorption Trenches increased well water levels by 3 feet, enabling cultivation across all 15 acres year-round.
In Kherda village, Vijaykumar and Sagarbai Kundgir exemplify resilience, transforming their small farm through vermicomposting to boost yields and earnings, while ensuring their children receive a quality education. Supported by Wells Fargo and WOTR, they increased their soybean yield and profits significantly.
Sunanda Prakash Jante’s dream of becoming a beautician is finally taking shape with the support of a project that provided her essential tools to start her beauty parlour. Her story is one among many, empowering over 145 women in Aurad Taluka to establish various ventures through this initiative.
In Odisha’s Guma block, cashew plantations have become a transformative force for tribal communities, offering economic stability, reducing migration, and empowering women through sustainable agricultural practices. Managed in partnership with WOTR, these initiatives not only enhance local livelihoods but also promote biodiversity and soil health, marking a significant step towards sustainable development in the region.
For Balaji Ajunshonde, farming is a way of life passed down through generations. After a devastating fire destroyed their harvest, assistance from Wells Fargo and WOTR brought renewed hope, boosting their income by 20% and transforming their resilience into a powerful story of recovery.
India faced severe heatwaves in 2024, with record-breaking temperatures and prolonged heat spells from April to May. Contributing factors included El Niño conditions, lack of pre-monsoon rains, and persistent anticyclones. Rising greenhouse gas emissions and climate change further intensified the heatwave’s severity, highlighting the urgent need for sustainable solutions.
Furkhan and Shahinbee Patel struggled with farming due to severe water scarcity on their 11-acre farm in Hokrana village of Karnataka. In 2022-23, a restoration project by Wells Fargo and WOTR created a water harvesting potential of 22 million liters, significantly improving their irrigation and doubling their harvests.
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A glimpse into the cultural practices and land-based traditions of tribal communities in WOTR’s project regions.
Drawing from work with smallholder farmers—from Kumbharwadi in Maharashtra to Madaul in Odisha—WOTR has contributed key experiences, insights, and evidence to the Stories of Resilience 2025, a publication launched by the Global Centre on Adaptation (GCA) at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Belém, Brazil.
How can smallholders farm fish while safeguarding their local ecosystems? One promising answer lies in farm ponds.
Read how a school, and ultimately an entire village in Maharashtra, was transformed with clean toilets
Phool’s journey from uncertain, monocropping to stable, climate-resilient agriculture shows how access to irrigation, diversification, and community support can transform livelihoods.
Grasslands are often mistaken for empty lands needing trees, but they are rich, climate-resilient ecosystems. Understanding their unique biodiversity, carbon storage, and cultural value is essential to ensuring conservation efforts don’t unintentionally cause harm.
Making every drop count in Maharashtra’s rainshadow.
Recently, multiple large-scale awareness campaigns were conducted in 15 villages across diverse regions of Rangareddy and Jalna districts in Telangana and Maharashtra, respectively, where the Water Stewardship Initiative (WSI) is being implemented.