Vijay Kumar Thallam, Executive Vice Chairman – RySS and Advisor to Government of Andhra Pradesh, and Nagendramma Nettem, a Champion Farmer Coach from APCNF receiving the prestigious Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity 2024 from Dr Angela Merkel (chair of the Jury and former Federal Chancellor of Germany) at an award ceremony in Lisbon, Portugal. (Image by Arrangement)
VIJAYAWADA: The Community Managed Natural Farming (APCNF) programme of the government of Andhra Pradesh has been honoured with the prestigious Gulbenkian Prize 2024 for Humanity. It has a cash component of €1 million.
This is the first time the award selection touched India. The prize was announced by Angela Merkel (chair of the jury and former chancellor) at an award ceremony in Lisbon, Portugal.
APCNF and the Government of Andhra Pradesh jointly took the prize along with Dr Rattan Lal (noted soil scientist from USA) and SEKEM (an Egyptian network enabling farmers working on biodynamic farming).
The independent Jury and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation chose the 2024 winners in recognition of their complementary work and the need for both scientific research and practical applications of sustainable agriculture.
The independent jury of the Prize for Humanity chaired by Angela Merkel chose the 2024 winners from over 181 nominations. The 2024 Prize highlights how climate-related challenges are interlinked and lead to interconnected systemic crises, the award panel noted.
A high-level delegation of officials from Rythu Sadhikara Samstha (RySS) – the implementing agency of APCNF – and the government of AP had travelled to Lisbon for the ceremony. The award was received by Vijay Kumar Thallam, executive vice chairman – RySS and adviser to AP government, and Nagendramma Nettem, a champion farmer coach from APCNF.
Vijay Kumar said, “This award gives hope to everyone in the world that there is a very powerful and a ‘ready to use’ solution for the climate emergency. Together, we have learnt that ‘farming in harmony with nature’ can reverse climate change, farmers can improve their livelihoods and their health, while healing the planet. We also learned that women collectives hold the key to scaling this powerful solution.”
“Therefore, investing in farmers and women collectives is critical for building a better life on planet earth.”
“On behalf of the AP government, I am happy to announce that the entire prize money received from this award will be used for the Global Scaling of Natural Farming.”
Nagendramma Nettem, Champion Farmer Coach, said, “I started doing Natural Farming for the good health of my children, but found my cultivation cost has reduced as a result and I started earning money while the health of all my family members improved. This motivated me to mobilise and spread awareness among my fellow farmers about the importance and benefits of natural farming.”
APCNF and the Government of Andhra Pradesh jointly took the prize along with Dr Rattan Lal (noted soil scientist from USA) and SEKEM (an Egyptian network enabling farmers working on biodynamic farming).
The independent Jury and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation chose the 2024 winners in recognition of their complementary work and the need for both scientific research and practical applications of sustainable agriculture.
The independent jury of the Prize for Humanity chaired by Angela Merkel chose the 2024 winners from over 181 nominations. The 2024 Prize highlights how climate-related challenges are interlinked and lead to interconnected systemic crises, the award panel noted.
A high-level delegation of officials from Rythu Sadhikara Samstha (RySS) – the implementing agency of APCNF – and the government of AP had travelled to Lisbon for the ceremony. The award was received by Vijay Kumar Thallam, executive vice chairman – RySS and adviser to AP government, and Nagendramma Nettem, a champion farmer coach from APCNF.
Vijay Kumar said, “This award gives hope to everyone in the world that there is a very powerful and a ‘ready to use’ solution for the climate emergency. Together, we have learnt that ‘farming in harmony with nature’ can reverse climate change, farmers can improve their livelihoods and their health, while healing the planet. We also learned that women collectives hold the key to scaling this powerful solution.”
“Therefore, investing in farmers and women collectives is critical for building a better life on planet earth.”
“On behalf of the AP government, I am happy to announce that the entire prize money received from this award will be used for the Global Scaling of Natural Farming.”
Nagendramma Nettem, Champion Farmer Coach, said, “I started doing Natural Farming for the good health of my children, but found my cultivation cost has reduced as a result and I started earning money while the health of all my family members improved. This motivated me to mobilise and spread awareness among my fellow farmers about the importance and benefits of natural farming.”
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