Nidhi Pant has long had a passion for creating change. After devastating floods in 2013 in her home region of India, she decided that her life goal would be to bring positive change to her country. Even as just one young millennial in a small corner of the world, she has already created a global impact.
India has long faced challenges with hunger and nutrition. This pressing issue is exacerbated by food loss due to improper storage and poor infrastructure. In 2018, the United Nations reported that about 40% of food was lost due to issues at every stage in the supply chain from collection to packaging. While the United Nations is working to create programs to counteract the effects of food loss, like raising farmer wages and creating pesticide free fertilizers, these programs are often not extended equally across India, and women especially are left out. Nidhi Pant is on the mission to change that.
Creating Something from Nothing
Not only does Nidhi want to create positive change, but she also wants her projects to address multiple issues at once. Her two companies are Desi-v-Desi and S4S (Science for Society), where she is the co-founder of both. S4S is an Indian company that creates sustainable technology for farmers to preserve food. Through S4S’s solar drying technologies food is dried, and it retains 85-95% of its nutritional value. The dried food is transported by S4S to a packaging plant, Nidhi’s other organization, Desi-v-Desi. The dried food is marketed and sold to customers and businesses globally. Desi-v-Desi products can even be bought online through Amazon.
Traction in the Health Snack Sector
Both of Nidhi’s companies promote the prevention of food waste and create healthy snacks for people in India and across the globe. The United Nations reports that diabetes and obesity are on the rise in India. The Desi-v-Desi natural, additive-free snacks are fighting this trend.
In addition to the health benefits, Nidhi’s technology enables farmers to receive money for the food they preserve, which is especially empowering to women farmers. And the benefits of Nidhi’s passion is not limited just to India. S4S’ patented solar conductor can now be found in 8 countries and the technology has been employed by over 10,000 farmers! As for Desi-v-Desi, the production facility in Aurangabad, India is able to process up to 3,000 tonnes of food annually.
One Person Can Make a Difference
Nidhi’s path was not easy. Like many entrepreneurs, there were times of doubt, and she had to draw on her passion for creating change to overcome her insecurities. As a millennial, I too inspire to make my own change in the world. Like Nidhi, empowering women is important to me, but I accept that there may often be setbacks to creating change.
Nidhi’s passion has remained steadfast. In an interview by the Huffington Post in 2017, she gave advice to others, saying, “My advice to innovators is that, do not ever give up, and believe in your idea.” Nidhi’s passion has helped preserve food, improve the livelihood of farmers, empower woman, create jobs, and provide healthy snacks to people across the globe. One person can create incredible change through collaboration and by being a source of inspiration to others. I thank Nidhi for not only feeding people healthy food but for feeding my passion for creating change and my belief that one person can make a difference!
Written by Quinn Schneider, a graduate of University of North Carolina at Asheville
Click here for Nidhi’s LinkedIn profile.
Click here for Nidhi’s excellent TechSparks 2017 Interview.
Click here for S4S Technologies, one of Nidhi’s companies.
For more stories on how one person can make a difference, please visit the Heart of Waraba blog page.
