Using technology to empower farmers to gain a fair price for their produce
Gramhal aims to increase the income of farmers by providing them personalized price information about their produce. With its unique and first of its kind portable quality inspection kit, Gramhal undertakes quality inspection of farmers produce at their door step and sends personalized price – adjusted to farmer’s crop quality and location - for 30 days. Farmers use this price information to negotiate for a fair price with the buyer and maximize returns on their harvest. This also helps farmers to make decisions about when to sell, whom to sell to, and at what price. Gramhal aspires to improve the lives of 600 million people in India who are dependent on agriculture.
Vikas hails from a village in northern India and has lived experiences about the livelihood struggles of smallholder farmers. He is passionate about designing solutions that can improve the wellbeing of the Indian agricultural community. For his work with farmers, Vikas was named in Forbes 30 under 30 Asia list of 2020 in the Social Entrepreneurship category. He is an Echoing Green Fellow’19, Adrian Cheng Fellow’18 and a Dalai Lama Fellow’18. Vikas is an engineer by training and holds two Master's degrees, one in Social Work from TISS, Mumbai, and another in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School.
Simeen Kaleem hails from Aligarh, a small town in U.P, and is passionate about promoting gender rights and developing local solutions that empower marginalised communities. Prior to joining Gramhal, Simeen was the country manager for the University of Chicago's research program in India. Simeen is a strong advocate of carving spaces for women leadership and was the Students' Union President at her graduate school. For her potential to bring about positive change, Simeen was awarded the Young India Fellowship. Simeen received her BSc from Miranda House and holds a Masters from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.
