Bengaluru: Amazon India has announced an ambitious CSR initiative that will establish 25 urban food gardens in schools across Karnataka by 2027. This move is part of Amazon’s expanding commitment to child nutrition, food security, and sustainability in the state.
Under a new collaboration with ICLEI South Asia, Amazon is contributing through its Right Now Climate Fund to scale school-based food gardens. The broader plan aims to set up 75 of these gardens by 2028 in major cities, including Bengaluru, Delhi, and Kolkata.
These gardens are designed not just to grow fresh vegetables but to foster hands-on learning for students, teaching them about sustainable farming practices, nutrition, and ecological responsibility. In pilot programs in Bengaluru, students have already helped cultivate ten to twelve different vegetable varieties over four months.
Amazon’s CSR approach in Karnataka also builds on its long-standing partnership with the Akshaya Patra Foundation. Since 2017, Amazon has supported the foundation’s milk-distribution “Ksheera Bhagya” programme, which at that time benefited 170,000 schoolchildren in Bengaluru’s government schools.
In 2024, Amazon launched Project Aasha, leveraging its logistics and supply chain expertise to enhance the operational capacity of Akshaya Patra. In 2025 alone, Amazon employees have contributed to the preparation and distribution of nearly 450,000 nutritious mid-day meals across India.
Abhinav Singh, VP Operations (Amazon India & Australia), emphasized the evolution of Amazon’s nutrition programmes: “From funding milk programmes to building creative ways for children to understand nutrition, our initiatives are evolving to meet the changing needs of children and communities.”
Dr. Monalisa Sen of ICLEI South Asia highlighted the broader impact: “Urban gardens are more than nutrition; they cultivate sustainability awareness and empower students to grow their own future.”
Shridhar Venkat, CEO of the Akshaya Patra Foundation, added that Amazon’s support since 2017 has been “transformative,” enabling the foundation to marry its mission of ending classroom hunger with digital education and efficient logistics.
Amazon’s Right Now Climate Fund (RNCF) is at the heart of this initiative. Globally, it is a US$100 million commitment to restore ecosystems, protect biodiversity, and support communities. In India, since its 2023 launch, the RNCF has channelled over US$3.28 million into local projects — including community-based reforestation and plastic cleanup efforts.
BI Bureau
