Mars Inc. and Tata Trusts—a leading coalition of philanthropic organizations headquartered in India—announced they have partnered to work towards advancing agriculture development, address malnutrition and improve food safety in India.

According to Mars, Tata Trusts pursues a mission to improve the quality of life of the communities it serves in India. The Trusts include the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, Sir Ratan Tata Trust, and Navajbhai Ratan Tata Trust.

The organizations will work to develop methods and tools to increase crop productivity, farm income, and sustainability of select agriculture commodities, and to collaborate on the availability of safe, affordable, and sustainable raw materials from India.

“Given Mars’ global leadership in nutritive foods and sustainable agriculture, the Tata Trusts believes this collaboration will have lasting, meaningful benefits for Indian communities,” says Ratan Tata, chairman of the Tata Trusts. “We are particularly inspired by Mars Food’s commitment to addressing malnutrition in India – a challenge of growing concern in this country, particularly among children.”

Mars and the Tata Trusts also plan to collaborate on reducing Aflatoxin contamination in India’s supply chain. Aflatoxin – a naturally occurring, poisonous chemical produced by certain molds – is a critical food safety issue in India. Mars has unique expertise in addressing Aflatoxin contamination and can draw on its Global Food Safety Center in China to conduct future research in this area.