Corteva Agriscience Trains 5 Lakh Rural Entrepreneurs

New Delhi, Mar 25 (PTI) Corteva Agriscience on Tuesday said it has launched the Global Agri-Entrepreneurship Academy in partnership with the International Finance Corporation and the Sustainable Agriculture Foundation International Association to support 5,00,000 rural entrepreneurs in serving 100 million farmers across Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

The initiative aims to address critical challenges in smallholder farming, including limited access to quality agricultural inputs, technology, and modern farming knowledge.

Global Agri-Entrepreneurship Academy (GAEA) will provide targeted training and mentoring to rural entrepreneurs to bridge service delivery gaps in agriculture.

Sustainable Agriculture Foundation International Association (SAFIA) Executive Director Simon Winter said the organisation has already activated 23,000 rural entrepreneurs to create village-level jobs and improve farmers' living standards.

"Now we want to share our experience of guiding rural youth and women to become successful entrepreneurs at a much greater scale," Winter noted.

The programme has identified initial partners in Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Tanzania, and Cote d'Ivoire.

Founding members signed a memorandum of understanding to standardise their approach to agri-entrepreneurship development.

Anuja Kadian from Corteva Agriscience highlighted the importance of equipping entrepreneurs with management skills.

"Rural entrepreneurs succeed when they have strong management skills, financial discipline, and access to capital," she said.

Registered as a non-profit foundation in Switzerland, GAEA is backed by the Government of Japan and seeks to strengthen agricultural value chains by supporting rural entrepreneurs.

The initiative builds on SAFIA's 40-year history of supporting smallholder agriculture, with the goal of driving productivity and resilience in rural economies.