Small and marginal farmers benefited from the coalition

approach in accessing some of the resources such as

technology, credit and markets. Improvement in their

livelihood through enhanced production and higher

margins in bulking, storing and selling their produce solely

depended on the strength of collective action

Alur, A S

Gowda, C L L

Rao, P P

Ratnakar, R

Ravinder Reddy, Ch

Reddy, B V S

ICRISAT Open Access Repository

15L E I S A  I N D I A  •  S E P T E M B E R  2 0 0 8Sorghum and pearl millet are the only crop options for thesmall and marginal scale farmers in most of the semi-aridtropical countries. Small and marginal farmers with livestockcontinue to depend on these crops so as to meet their food andfodder needs. The area under these crops has declined and havebeen pushed to more and more marginal areas. Also, farmers inthese areas are often confronted with limited market mechanisms.International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics(ICRISAT), Patancheru, India, in collaboration with partners,initiated a project focusing on  improving the livelihoods of smallscale farmers in Asia. The project aims at building human andsocial capital of small-scale farmers in Andhra Pradesh andMaharastra clusters. This is achieved by strengthening theircapacities, skills and knowledge on improved productiontechnologies and strengthening farmers associations by buildinglinkages with input suppliers, credit and market. The projectexecuted in Coalition mode (Fig. 1) has the partnership withuniversities, private seed companies, feed manufacturers, inputsuppliers, NGOs and farmer groups for effective input deliverymechanisms. The project was funded by Common Fund forCommodities (CFC), Netherlands.The small scale sorghum and pearl millet producers face severalconstraints in production, processing and marketing of their farmproduce due to several reasons. Some of them include decrease inmarket demand; changes in consumer preferences; availability ofsubsidized wheat and rice to poorer sections through PDS; issuesof physical access to markets; structure of the markets; andproducers’ lack of skills, information and organization. The projecttherefore focused on organizing farmers into groups/associations,enhancing their capacities for better production and increasing theirbargaining power through infrastructure support and collectiveaction.To help the farmers’ access efficient and more equitable marketopportunities, several interventions were made. This includedsupporting the constitution of commodity oriented farmersassociations, helping and training farmers to identify new/alternative markets, linking farmers with end users and processors,providing market information to the farmers etc.Building farmers’ associationsAs outlined above it was felt that formation of farmers associationsat the village level was the first and foremost important step inbringing them together to build social capital. The farmers growingsorghum and pearl millet were brought under the commodity groupsat the village level. The elected group leader is a member of thefarmers associations at the cluster level. Each cluster comprised of7 to 10 villages. The number of members in each group varied.Several joint meetings were organized with partners and farmersto identify needs. Farmers were supported based on the needs andguided through several field exposure visits and training programsto further enhance their knowledge and skills in various aspects.There was active participation of farmers groups, farmersassociation and SHGs in project planning, implementation,monitoring and evaluation.Inclusion of womenAs women play an important role in agricultural operations in thetarget villages, women self help groups (SHGs) leaders wereenrolled as members in the association. They were trained alongwith other members in seed based activity and bulking, storing andmarketing of produce at village level.Two models were developed and tested for meaningful involvementof women farmers in project activities.One model was to involve SHGs in seed distribution; cultivarselection and procurement of seed was done jointly by partnerinstitutions, PMU and ICRISAT. The seed procured was handedover to farmers association to redistribute to respective selectedSHGs in Andhra Pradesh (AP) and Maharastra (MS) clusters. SHGswere trained on importance of improved cultivars and its benefitslike resistance to pest and diseases, tolerance to moisture stress,stover quality and better yield when compared to local cultivars.SHGs were given 5% incentive on total sale amount to keep theirinterest effective. Advantages of this model will enhance awarenessand capacity of SHG to understand the importance of improvedcultivars in crop production. The message of availability and accessto improved cultivars will spread across all communities in thevillages.The second model was on bulking, storage  and marketing. Similarto the above  model, SHGs were trained in respective activity tomake them understand the importance of each activity, both in termsof quantity and quality for better remuneration. To increase thefinancial capacities of SHGs for grain procurement from project,farmers were linked to credit institutions. SHGs approach the projectfarmers immediately after harvest and procure the grain by paying50% amount of the prevailing market price and store the grain inthe godown. The balance amount will be paid after selling theproduce to poultry feed industry in a month or two. SHGs share5% on the total amount spent for procurement and pay for godownstorage charges to farmers association @ Rs. 2 per quintal grain.This process ensures better price and prevents distress sale of grainto middle men or agents. Also, as the farmer receives 50% price ofgrain immediately after harvest he/she will able to meet his/herimmediate needs. Moreover, bulk marketing is a win-win situationfor both producer (farmer) and the buyer.Building human capital of small scalefarmers: a Coalition approachSmall and marginal farmers benefited from the coalitionapproach in accessing some of the resources such astechnology, credit and markets. Improvement in theirlivelihood through enhanced production and highermargins in bulking, storing  and selling their produce solelydepended on the strength of collective action.Ch Ravinder Reddy, Ashok S Alur,Belum V S Reddy, P. ParthasarathyRao,CLL Gowda and R RatnakarL E I S A  I N D I A  •  S E P T E M B E R  2 0 0 816Capacity Building of farmers associationSeveral training and capacity building activities were planned todevelop the skills of farmer groups in areas such as crop production,improved seed/fertilizer/chemical and credit accessibility, grainbulking, storing, grading and marketing within the target regionsand management of godowns. It involved training of farmer groups,representatives of input supply companies, feed and poultrycompanies. The development of training and other disseminationmaterial was done by coalition partner members on variousapproaches and processes used in initiating and gearing up the inputand product market chains. On-farm advice and field support (cropproduction aspects) has been extended to the farmers associationsby coalition partners during the entire cropping season in all clustersin both regions. Periodic field visits by the experts, organizingtraining programs, field days and exposure visits were useful inbuilding confidence on improved crop production technologiesamong the farmers. The impact of these activities resulted in highergrain production per unit area in the cluster villages.Farmers association and SHGs were trained in construction,management and operation of storage structures and the ear headdrier. The operation and management guidelines for the storagestructures and the driers were developed jointly with partners andthe farmers. The driers were installed in all clusters and are beingused to dry sorghum and pearl millet ear heads harvested duringrainy season. The use of drier has helped reduce the moisture contentof the grain to 10-12% and prevent mold attack during storage.The systems of bulking and grading were introduced to the farmers.The importance, advantages and the requirements of grading bulkingand storing were explained through trainings and exposure visitsto government warehouse. These trainings were helpful in changingthe mindset of the farmers positively towards bulking practices.Collective actionThe farmers were resorting to distress sale of grain soon after theharvest owing to debt and lack of adequate storage facilities. Theyplanned to construct storage structures for which land was required.Firstly, they identified gram panchayat land in the village andconvinced the gram panchayath (village organization) members toallocate the land. The land allocation in all the clusters was passedthrough a resolution by gram panchayath in spite of hurdles fromvarious groups and local political interference. In one cluster, dueto non availability of suitable gram panchayat land, a group memberdonated the land for the project. The next step was to construct thegodowns. Farmer associations constructed storage structures withthe technical and financial support from the project fund.The godown construction and management committees wereformed from the farmers’ associations. The farmer groups in thecluster villages anonymously elected members for construction andmonitoring of storage structures.  These committees shoulderedthe responsibilities of the construction of storage structures andhave successfully managed the completion of the construction withlot of cooperation, skills, network and values among themselvesand support from the group members.Building linkagesThe project facilitated interaction between bankers and the partnersfor easy flow of institutional credit to farmers. Two joint meetingswere organized at ICRISAT with State Bank of India and StateBank of Hyderabad where in all partners including farmersparticipated. Farmers explained the bankers the hurdles in gettingcrop loans. The bankers agreed to cut short the documentationprocedures, which paved the way for extending Kissan Credit Cards(KCC) to farmers groups in cluster villages. Around 900 farmersin Andhra Pradesh cluster and more than 450 farmers fromMaharashtra cluster availed bank credit.Market linkages between farmer associations and feedmanufacturers were strengthened. The meetings between farmersassociation and different feed manufacturers were helpful ininitiating the process of entering into formal and informalagreements. Besides feed manufacturing companies, alcohol andfood processing industries were the other potential buyers dentified.In the second year, the farmers association was able to bulk andmarket the produce to poultry feed industry.Proper grading, bulking and storing of the grain in the villagegodown was helpful in enhancing collective bargaining power offarmer groups. There was significant increase in the income due tobulk marketing.ConclusionSmall-scale farmers in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra clustersachieved positive economic outcomes because they are adaptableand are willing to change. The farmers association members andwomen farmer groups found that by combining their knowledgeand skills, they were able to achieve better outcomes from theirfarm and bulk marketing.Efforts to increase agricultural productivity can be effective only ifthey are linked to an appreciation of market potential; and it callsfor integrated approaches along the full continuum of production,storage, processing and marketing. Building social capital, creatinglearning situations based on extensive interactions, forging durablelinkages among stakeholders lead to tangible outcomes beneficialto farming communities.Ch Ravinder Reddy, Ashok S Alur, Belum V S Reddy,P. ParthasarathyRao, CLL GowdaInternational Crops Research Institute for the Semi Arid Tropics,Patancheru,  Andhra Pradeshemail: c.reddy@cgiar.orgR RatnakarEEI, ANG Ranga Agricultural University,Rajendranagar, Hyderabad - 560030Figure 1. Coalition flow diagram

Building human capital of small scale farmers: a Coalition approach

http://oar.icrisat.org/2537/1/BuildingHumanCapitalOfSmallScaleFarmer_2008.pdf

Building human capital of small scale farmers: a Coalition approach

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

ICRISAT Open Access Repository