Project

Developing a Sustainable, Collaborative, Agri-business Ecosystem for Small Farmers
Sponsor: TOYOTA Foundation

Summary

The origin of the project lies in the aspiration of a progressive group of farmers to preserve and improve farming – a traditional occupation that is now under threat from rising labour costs, decreasing profits and changes in societal aspirations.
The key challenge that was identified by this group of farmers is to find ways to increase earnings from farming and farm-related activities – with a view to sustaining agricultural activity in the village.

A beginning has been made by undertaking a small-scale experiment in branding and marketing to see if their earnings (from the rice they grow) can be increased. During this experiment a retail brand ‘ Chorao Island Farmer’s Club ’ was created and 10 local retail outlets approached to provide the rice to consumers. This experiment (still currently in progress) has been successful in creating confidence amongst both the producers (the Farmer’s Club) and the retailers that this model is sustainable and can be mutually beneficial. It also led to an increase of about 25% in the price realised by the farmers for their produce – which is red-kernel rice.

The real challenge however, lies in scaling up the scope of the experiment to include more retailers and more types of produce and most importantly creating processes and infrastructure comparable to ‘private’ agri-businesses. This will require the establishment of practices and training of Club members to undertake these activities themselves.

The creation of local opportunities for entrepreneurship (specifically in agriculture) has become critical because it gives residents of rural areas the opportunity to utilize their knowledge capital (expertise in farming) and retain their assets (farmland) instead of trading them for uncertain employment opportunities in cities.

A collaborative and diversified agri-business provides for villagers to pool and apply their traditional expertise and assets to increase employment, business and income opportunities within their villages.

The goals of this project are to assist a group of farmers in Goa (the Chorao Farmers Club), to:
Demonstrate how they can achieve greater earnings by increasing scope of their activities beyond the production stage
Connect directly with retailers so that they can earn a larger share of retail prices for farm produce
Create a supply chain for their produce which includes activities like production, processing, packaging, branding, marketing, value-addition and distribution
Assist them to adopt more systematic & sustainable farming techniques and crops to increase profitability
Evaluate other potential earning opportunities that can supplement and complement their ‘agricultural income’ – food processing, etc.

For more details see the Farmers Club blog at www.choraofarmers.wordpress.com