Six numbers. Audited. Source-linked.
One lakh-plus households. 860-plus self-help groups. 12 districts. 90 km of rivers walked on foot. Every figure on this page is built bottom-up from SHG registers, village surveys, and field-team daily logs — and audited against our Skeptical Observer Standard.
Counted, not estimated
The Meer Foundation impact ledger is built bottom-up. Every household is counted, every SHG is named, every kilometre walked is mapped. The numbers below are not extrapolations — they are aggregations of village-level records that any skeptical observer is welcome to inspect.
Bottom-up counting
Household counts begin at the SHG register, are aggregated at the village level, then at the cluster, then at the district. No top-down estimation, no extrapolation.
Skeptical Observer Standard
Before publication, each figure is audited: could a skeptical observer re-derive it from documented sources? If not, the number is revised or withheld.
Refreshed every six months
The ledger is updated each April and October. Numbers that are no longer source-verified are removed, not silently rounded.
Reading the ledger
The six primary counters below animate as they enter your viewport — each represents a category of impact that has been continuously verified for 14 years. The secondary grid shows newer or narrower figures. The SDG alignment map connects each number to the relevant UN Sustainable Development Goal.
Six numbers that anchor the ledger
Each primary stat is shown as a large animated counter. The figure is the audited floor — a '+' suffix means the verified lower bound; the real number is likely higher but cannot yet be source-verified.
Counted bottom-up from SHG registers and village surveys across 12 districts.
Active women-led SHGs formed under Farmours and the Five Pillars framework.
Contiguous districts of Chhattisgarh — close enough for one field team.
Bolti Nadi teams walked 90 km of the Sakri river system end-to-end.
Women trained in organic farming, FPO governance, and market linkages.
Continuous field presence in Dhamtari since 2011. Continuity compounds.
Six more numbers, narrower in scope
These figures are still source-verified but apply to specific programmes or recent cohorts. They sit below the primary ledger because the time series is shorter or the sample is narrower.
On the ₹2.5L figure. The lead FPO (Sunita's collective, Dhamtari) reported an average household income of ₹2.5 lakh in FY 2024–25 — verified against procurement records and bank deposits. This is a programme-specific outcome, not a state-wide average.
Every number, mapped to a UN goal
The Meer Foundation impact ledger cross-references the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Below: nine SDGs and the specific programme data that feeds each.
₹2.5L average annual income per FPO household — 18 FPOs, 3,320 households.
Organic farming curriculum + 12,000+ women farmers trained in sustainable agriculture.
Yoga Kutumb cohorts + emergency-response training in 12 districts.
Prayaas virtual school — CGBSE-aligned Class 1–12 free materials, 62 classrooms.
860+ women-led SHGs, 12,000+ women farmers, all-woman programme leadership.
90 km of Sakri river walked end-to-end; riparian restoration across 12 villages.
18 FPOs providing market-linked livelihoods; paravet + agriculture training pipelines.
Bolti Nadi river-restoration + Farmours organic farming + native riparian plantation.
Riparian forest restoration, mahseer run monitoring, Adivasi-led heritage walks.
Why counting is harder than it looks
Three principles govern every figure on this page. They are why the same numbers can take 14 years to compile — and why we publish them anyway.
A '+' suffix means 'at least this many'. We publish the verified lower bound and update it as more village surveys return. We never round up.
Download the source documents
Every PDF below underpins a number on this page. All resources are CC-BY 4.0 — print, broadcast, translate, and distribute freely with attribution.
Resource library
6 of 6Awareness brief + 48-page river-health monitoring course — the field manual behind the 90-km Sakri walk.
Awareness brief + organic-farming course — the curriculum behind the 12,000-woman farmer network.
All resources CC-BY 4.0. Cite, translate, adapt, and use commercially with attribution to Meer Foundation.
Frequently asked questions
Frequently asked questions
The '+' suffix means 'at least this many'. We publish the verified floor — currently one lakh-plus households — and update upward as additional village surveys return. We do not extrapolate from a sample. When all 12 districts have returned their FY 2025–26 surveys, the '+' may become an exact number.