Gayathri Ilango

When managing a small farm posed many challenges, and changes in the environment around the farm threatened our favorite food system, there was a search for a solution for the family farm. The interest in growing clean food combined with methods to improve crop nutrients, and soil health, and the passion for a transparent food system, led me on the path of discovering some of the practices that are harmful to humans and nature. What we could do as a farmer in combating the negative impact of our industrial food systems, extended in setting up The Circular Farm Company in 2021. I now support similar communities of food producers with partners globally to address problems that start on the farm to challenges like climate change and food insecurity. I work on partnership models as the agriculture value chain is huge. My partnership includes small farmers, food producers, technology firms, nonprofits and communities. My project includes data management for evaluating sustainability on farm activities, urban food system and conservation and sourcing of sustainable raw materials in food production. The vision of my company is to support food production to reduce emissions, strengthen local food systems and enable small producers to make profit from mainstream agriculture and create food security for vulnerable people. I have farming experience managing our family farm. We grow spices and supply them to spice market. The family farm grew along with us in the last 28 years, giving me a perspective of how closer we can get to producing our food, sharing with communities our knowledge and practices and improving our life.