This social business person is helping 26 towns in Latur to become self-maintainable

Aditi Deshmukh intently works with the Vilasrao Deshmukh Establishment to assist towns in Latur with becoming manageable, through different drives. She is likewise the organizer behind 21 Organics, a ranch-to-table endeavor.

After a successful career as an actor and model, Aditi Deshmukh married one of the most prominent families in Maharashtra. “After a career in the performing arts for 10 years, I moved into a space where I felt there were a lot of opportunities and resources at my disposal to be able to effect change,” Aditi tells HerStory.

She would frequently visit urban and rural areas of Latur in the Marathwada region and closely interacted with various communities, especially with farmers, women, and youth. Aditi started working closely with the Vilasrao Deshmukh Foundation in 2008 to effect change in rural areas. But the general challenges for the youth and women in Latur and surrounding areas, and rural Maharashtra would be in healthcare, an area we chose to focus on,” she says. 

Aditi points out that most of them manage their homes as well as their land, and it’s difficult for them to uproot themselves and move to cities for jobs. “Our focus has been to bring enterprise into their own homes, be it through farming initiatives, or to skill them in textile work, like cloth bags,” she says. Bringing change to rural Maharashtra The foundation works with 26 villages in Latur, which is a drought-prone area. 

“In 2016, when the region was undergoing a severe drought, we brought in hundreds of water tankers from Maharashtra and the other areas, providing them with drinking water and for other needs. The foundation works in the fields of education, rural transformation, organic farming, skill development, and women's empowerment. 

“When you start in one area, you realize it's all connected. To make any one particular area effective in the way that you intend for it to be, you need to work in the other areas as well, to focus on maybe one or two particular initiatives,” Aditi says. The foundation has collaborated with Metropolis Foundation to start Project Udaan, to bring in skill development, self-defense training, and healthcare. 

Life as an entrepreneur Having grown up on farms on the outskirts of Bengaluru, Aditi always had access to fresh milk, vegetables, and fruits. So, I went back and started farming on a patch of land in the village, and that grew organically grew into a venture,” she says. 21 Organic is a farm-to-table organic food venture that promotes sustainable agriculture by providing climate-resilient crops, transitioning farmers back to natural farming practices, and establishing a supply chain for organic produce to directly benefit the farmer. 

Aditi realized that a lot of farmers were interested in organic farming, but didn’t have a market for their products. But once we saw its potential, we knew we could help farmers transition from conventional farming to an organic model.” The next challenge would be to enable them to connect to markets in urban areas. 

She started in Latur on her own farm, which became a model farm for other farmers. Aditi recalls that even in 2016 it was not accessible to source an entire basket of organic vegetables. “We focus on seasonal and regional produce, not vegetables like broccoli and iceberg lettuce. The land and soil will naturally support vegetables indigenous to the region. 

In 2020, when the pandemic hit, they managed to transition 2,500 acres of land in rural Maharashtra to organic farming. They began growing sugar organically and grew other vegetables on small patches. Apart from her work in Latur and with 21 Organic, Aditi is involved with the family’s Goldcrest Schools, establishing the first Gold Crest High ICSE School in Vashi. I feel I have a responsibility to help in whatever way I can,” Aditi says. 

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