Reema Sathe (born 20th century) is an Indian chemical engineer and activist. Her snack company, "Manipur's first women-only farmer producer company", promises to share its profits fairly with small farmers. She was awarded the Nari Shakti Puraskar in 2017 for her work by the President of India[1] and later noted for her work in 300 villages, involving 30,000 people, by the International Livestock Research Institute in Nairobi.[2]
Reema Sathe | |
|---|---|
 in 2023 | |
| Education | Somerville College[1] |
| Occupations | businessperson and social activist |
Life
editSathe was trained as a chemical engineer.[3]
Having left a steady job in 2014 to become self employed,[4] she started a beverage company, "Happy Roots", after working for seven years in the food and drink industry[5] in 2016.[6] The move was prompted by concerns about the number of suicides amongst small farmers that she learned about while working for a company named "Krishi Star"[5] as a marketing manager.[3]
She tried giving chickens to farmers so that she could then sell the eggs. When the supply line led to breakages and rotten eggs, she changed her focus to non-perishable foodstuffs. In the case of women farmers in Ahmednagar, their income is said to have tripled as they grew buckweat for Sathe's business.[5] She has been credited with involving 16,000 women in pig farming and creating "Manipur's first women-only farmer producer company".[1] Her company's product ranges have included crackers and cookies made from wheat, buckwheat, amarnath seeds, flax seed and barley.[7]
DD India, an Indian Public Services TV company, featured Sathe in their programme "In Conversation" where she described how she was doubling incomes to make people financially secure.[9] She continues to write and the International Livestock Research Institute in Kenya includes her as an expert in Gender with an impact involving 300 villages and 30,000 people.[2] Her research on women farmers and climate change[8] has been included to support her inclusion as "an independent expert".[10]
Sathe went on to be a Cyril Shroff Scholar reading for a master's degree in Public Policy at Somerville College, Oxford.[1]
Awards
edit
Sathe was awarded "Business Today"'s "Most Powerful Women" Award in 2017.[7][1]
Sathe was awarded the 2016 Nari Shakti Puraskar.[11] She was one of 27 women who were recognised and five organisations were also honoured.[4][12] At the awards she met another award winner Ringyuichon Vashum from Manipur. She would later write about her visit to Manipur to see how she could help the people there.[13]
References
edit- 1 2 3 4 5 Shetye, Neeraj (8 November 2023). "Reema Sathe". www.some.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
- 1 2 "Gender Equality and Inclusion - Reema Sathe". CGIAR - International Livestock Research Institute - Gender Equality and Inclusion. Retrieved 20 February 2026.
- 1 2 "This Chemical Engineer Read One Story on 'The Better India' and Is Helping 10,000 Farmers Now". The Better India. 21 October 2016. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
- 1 2 "Five Ngo's, 27 Women given Nari Shakti Award". ourcivilsociety.com. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
- 1 2 3 "That Happy Feeling- Business News". www.businesstoday.in. 16 September 2017. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
- ↑ "Reema Sathe & Happy Roots – Empowering Farmers, One Snack at a Time - Solsaga". 22 February 2025. Retrieved 20 February 2026.
- 1 2 "Commercialising the Grain". Brewer World. 31 July 2018. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
- 1 2 Rao, Nitya; Sathe, Reema; Grist, Natasha (24 February 2025). "Gender, intersectionality and climate smart agriculture in South Asia: A review". PLOS Climate. 4 (2) e0000482. doi:10.1371/journal.pclm.0000482. ISSN 2767-3200.
- ↑ Bhat, Mumman. "In Conversation: Meet Nari Shakti Puraskar awardee Reema Sathe". DD India - In Conversation with Founder of Happy Roots. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
- ↑ Arathimenon (15 January 2026). "Centring women in climate-resilient farming". Mongabay-India. Retrieved 20 February 2026.
- ↑ "Nari Shakti Awardees- Ms. Reema Sathe, Maharashtra | Ministry of Women & Child Development". wcd.nic.in. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
- ↑ "Nari Shakti Puraskar 2016" (PDF). Ministry of Women and Child Development. 2017. p. 28. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
- ↑ Reema Sathe (5 June 2019). "How A Remote District In Manipur Is Taking Sustainability Beyond Lip Service". Forbes India. Retrieved 22 February 2021.