Bangalore, 20 Nov: Amazon India today announced a new collaboration with ICLEI South Asia to establish 25 urban food gardens in schools in Karnataka by 2027, expanding its nutrition initiatives that have already supported 250,000 school children across the state. This new program builds on Amazon’s ongoing investments in nutrition and will address food security, drive digital inclusion, operational excellence, and sustainability — directly improving the lives of underprivileged children.
Through the collaboration, Amazon contributed $1 million through its Right Now Climate Fund to ICLEI South Asia to establish 75 urban food gardens by 2028 in schools across Bangalore, Delhi, and Kolkata. These gardens provide students with hands-on experience growing fresh vegetables while learning about sustainability. Early pilots in Bangalore show strong student participation, with 10-12 vegetable varieties already distributed to students over four months. The program will expand to an additional 16 schools in the next six months.
Amazon’s nutrition initiatives in Karnataka also include its long-standing collaboration with Akshaya Patra Foundation. Since supporting Karnataka’s Ksheera Bhagya milk programme in 2017—which benefited 170,000 children in Bengaluru government schools—the collaboration has evolved to address broader nutrition and education needs. In 2024, Amazon launched Project Aasha, enabling employees to share its expertise in supply chain and logistics to enhance Akshaya Patra’s operational capabilities. Amazon employees nationwide have also supported the preparation and distribution of nearly 450,000 nutritious mid-day meals across India in 2025.
“From funding milk programs to building creative ways for children to understand nutrition, our programs and initiatives have continuously evolved to meet the changing needs of children and communities,” said Abhinav Singh, VP Operations, Amazon India and Australia. “Together with Akshaya Patra and ICLEI, we are creating lasting impact that goes beyond food to education on nutrition and sustainability in the formative years of a student’s life.”
Dr. Monalisa Sen, Associate Director at ICLEI South Asia added, “Urban gardens are more than nutrition; they cultivate sustainability awareness and empower students to grow their own future.”
Mr. Shridhar Venkat, CEO of The Akshaya Patra Foundation said, “Amazon has been a transformative partner since 2017, evolving from the Ksheera Bhagya programme to encompass digital education and operational excellence through Project Aasha. We are grateful for their continued support as we work towards ensuring no child in India is deprived of education because of hunger.”
The Right Now Climate Fund (RNCF) is Amazon’s $100 million global commitment to restore ecosystems, protect biodiversity, and help communities where Amazon operates. Since its launch in India in 2023, RNCF has allocated $3.28M for the country as part of its $15M commitment to Asia-Pacific. Through RNCF, Amazon is collaborating with the Centre for Wildlife Studies’ Wild Carbon project in the UNESCO-listed Western Ghats to support 10,000 farming households, planting one million trees, thereby reducing human-wildlife conflict while creating sustainable income opportunities. Additionally, Amazon is investing $1.2 million to restore Mumbai’s Thane Creek ecosystem by planting 400,000 mangroves and removing 150 tons of plastic waste from the city’s waterways, protecting a critical Asian flyway for hundreds of bird species. This initiative protects critical habitats for Mumbai’s flamingos while creating employment for local women.