Dr. Tushar Gaware is Co-Founder and Lead of Food R&D and Value Added Products at S4S Technologies, a food technology company that empowers rural Indian landless women farmers, transforming them to Micro-Entrepreneurs by providing the right combination of - technology, finance, and market. 

 

Tushar, who grew up in a farming community, has witnessed post harvest losses since childhood. Addressing the challenge of fostering social impact in a nation where 70% of households depend on agriculture is a significant endeavor. It was the aligned values of his colleagues which inspired him to join S4S Technologies in 2012 after finishing his Ph.D in Bioprocess Technology and specializing in Food Dehydration from the Institute of Chemical Technology in Mumbai. 

 

S4S Technologies provides rural communities affordable solar-powered conduction dryers and food processing equipment to primary process their agri produce on-site, rather than using cold storage or other more expensive methods of conventional industrial food preservation. With a clear focus on supporting female farmers, S4S trains and supports its micro entrepreneurs in grading and converting processing grade material to value added food products and get additional margins for example selling solar dried tomatoes instead of fresh tomatoes. S4S has created a unique end to end model where banks or financial institutions support the women micro entrepreneurs for setting up decentralized units, S4S provides technology and training and finally connecting commercial buyers to purchase the processed products and returning maximum profits to the women micro entrepreneurs.

 

Some 300,000 women smallholder farmers supported by S4S have recorded a 10-15% increase in their profits, while the 2,000 women micro entrepreneurs they partner with have seen incomes double or even triple. By 2025, S4S wants to extend their reach to three million smallholder farmers and 30,000 women micro-entrepreneurs. By 2026, they predict they will have reduced food waste by 1.2 million tons and removed the equivalent of 10 million tons of CO2 from the atmosphere. S4S Technologies is the 2023 Winner of the Earthshot Prize and Zayed Sustainability Prize 2022 and its co-founders have been honored with the 2022 Global Citizen Prize, the Acumen Fellowship, and Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia.  

 

Before overseeing Food R&D and Value Added Products at S4S Technologies, Tushar oversaw the market link business division, central production unit, and quality control department. Tushar has served as the Project Lead for significant initiatives, including Grain Drying supported by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Cassava Processing and Value Addition in Kenya which was supported by UKAID.

 

As a Mountaintop Executive Fellow, Tushar will receive personalized professional development to strengthen his leadership within S4S Technologies.