Wrigley backs India mint farm education drive

US chewing gum giant, Wrigley has launched a three-year educational partnership with Pratham, the largest non-governmental education organisation in India, working to provide quality education to underprivileged children in the mint farming districts of Uttar Pradesh in India.

Uttar Pradesh is one of the key mint producing geographical areas of the world and the Wrigley Company Foundation initiative is aimed at reaching 40,000 children in 1,000 villages.

“We are pleased to be able to give back to these communities that play an important agricultural role for so many products we enjoy every day,” said Martin Radvan, president of the Wrigley Company Foundation and of Wrigley. “Delivering a mutuality of benefits is consistent with the Mars guiding principles, and we are proud that this programme strongly amplifies this commitment and provides additional support to these children.”

“Pratham is delighted to partner with the Wrigley Company Foundation to address the needs of children of the mint producing farmers. Uttar Pradesh has low learning levels as shown by ASER 2012 and we hope to address these problems in the region,” added Dr. Madhav Chavan, co-founder and ceo of Pratham.

ASER (meaning ‘impact’ in Hindi) is the largest household survey undertaken in India by people outside the government. It annually measures the enrollment as well as the reading and arithmetic levels of children aged 6-14 years.

The programme will be piloted in 300 villages in the first year and will scale up over the next two years, ultimately reaching the 1,000 village target. As part of the partnership, Pratham Books will also publish a series of “mint story cards,” which will tell the journey of mint from planting to end-product use, helping children to read while also providing a real and relevant story for them to follow.