Rajah Spices – empowering women in India for good

~ 5p from every promotional pack to support community farming initiatives in Gujrat

Rajah Spices, the UK’s leading authentic spice brand, has announced a new partnership to empower women farmers in Gujarat who grow cumin and other spices. The programme is being run in partnership with The Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), India’s largest Trade Union specifically for women.  

Rajah has been working with SEWA on this project for the past three years and now wants to tell its loyal customers about this important initiative and ask for their support. The new partnership will ensure that 5p from every promotional pack of Rajah Spices sold in the UK is donated to SEWA as part of a project to empower the lives of 2,400 cumin farmers living in Gujarat. 

Women make up the majority of farmers in Gujarat, many have low incomes, and there is limited support if their crops were to fail, for example, due to poor weather conditions or a bad harvest.

Through this promotion 5p from the purchase of every participating pack (Chili 100g, Garam Masala 100g, Dhaniya 100g, Jeera 100g and Haldi 100g) will directly support all the women enrolled in the programme. This contribution will fund vital financial and agricultural training to help improve their farm businesses and build a more secure future for them and their families.

Through Rajah’s partnership with SEWA, training will be provided on essential farming practices, such as how to use natural pesticides and apply fertilizers effectively, to grow more crops. SEWA will also provide the women with financial training and reliable market access to ensure they get a fair price for their cumin when it is sold.

Kamiben Khegarbhai Ahir from Patan District said ‘this training changed conventional farming and these new practices increased our income and our living standards have also improved’; while, another farmer from Surendranagar reported the training had made a significant difference to her business as ‘overall costs have reduced and also my quality of land has improved’ and that ‘most of (the other villagers) will carry out the same practices from next year’.

Rajah monitors the success of the project constantly, visiting the communities at least once a year to assess the impact of their work.  Lillian Paschalidi, Senior Brand Manager at Rajah commented ‘Rajah has been sold in the UK since 1931 and is proud to be at the heart of the community. This promotion builds on our longstanding work in Gujrat to directly empower thousands of women to give them a better future. We are excited to give our customers the chance to support this programme and help make a positive difference to their lives too.”   

Look out for participating packs in store and visit www.rajahspices.co.uk/sustainability for more information.