Sustainable Spices Initiative

Improving soil health and biodiversity in India, the world's largest producer of spices

India is the largest producer of spices in the world. With most of its spice farmers practising as independent smallholders, it has been difficult to promote sustainable practices within the sector, particularly as spices are often a "hidden" ingredient ending up in other food products.

Established in 2010, IDH's Sustainable Spices Initiative has introduced more sustainable agricultural practices in India, like intercropping and agroforestry to promote soil health and biodoversity. Working with 24,000 small-holder farms and training 20,000 farmers in ‘Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) for spices, they have helped to improve the crop yield of chilli, turmeric, cumin, black pepper and coriander in the key spice producing region of Andhra Pradesh as well as improving supply-chain transparency and product quality.

The Giri Pragati initiative is being managed by IDH and supported by P4G, a global platform that aims to accelerate innovative partnerships. The government of Andhra Pradesh through its not-for-profit entity RySS is another strategic partner in this initiative.

IDH works with businesses, financiers, governments and civil society to realize sustainable trade in global value chains. To find out more about IDH, visit their website at: https://www.idhsustainabletrade.com