RAS-L Archives

Moderated conference on rural advisory services for family farms: 1-18 December 2014

RAS-L@LISTSERV.FAO.ORG

Options: Use Classic View

Use Proportional Font
Show Text Part by Default
Show All Mail Headers

Topic: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]

Print Reply
Tue, 2 Dec 2014 14:40:31 +0100
text/plain (1 lines)
This is Subhash Mehta, from India. I am a trustee of the Devarao Shivaram Trust (DST). I started with organic agriculture during my stay in Rome 1997-2000 and association with FAO, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR) since those years. To get down to the bottom of the high cost conventional agriculture, I did a course in organic agriculture, inspection, certification and accreditation at the Centre International de Hautes Etudes Agronomiques Méditerranéennes (CIHEAM), Bari. I soon realised that organic was less than 1% and too small for governments, national agricultural research and extension systems (NARES), Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and multilateral agencies to scale up. Thus my shift to focus on the rural poor smallholder producer communities (84%) needs, starting with them setting up producer company (PC), staffed with professionals (general practitioners [GPs]/ MBAs in agriculture to take over all risks and responsibilities), if they are to roll back high cost/risk conventional green revolution technologies and follow their low risk/cost agro ecology, have access to own requirements of nutritious food and cash, also feed the growing world population in the long term.



The Government of India, realising the problems faced by the members of cooperatives and societies, being a department of the State Governments, legislated the Producer Company (PC), amendment IX-A of the Indian Companies Act 1956, as a sustainable local community enterprise institution of, for and by the rural poor producer communities. The PC has the features of an enterprise and will be driven by the cooperative and societal spirit of the community. The local PC intervention, staffed by professionals, will serve as a single window through which their members will transact with various external forces by taking over the risks and responsibilities, viz., management, finance, banking, imparting knowledge/training and capacity building, product development, factor market, capital market, research-extension services, value addition, delivery of government programmes, logistics, etc. It will also be responsible for all internal management of the smallholder producer viz., follow the low cost/risk agro ecology production systems of their area, to access own requirement of nutritious food and at farm gate prices, planning, budgeting, value addition, women empowerment, nutrition, health, education, increasing purchasing power and net incomes, ensuring safety, quality, livelihood improvement of their communities and a positive 'cash to cash cycle'.



Public investment/funding towards overheads, working capital, basic infrastructure, technical and managerial support needs to be provided for the first 5-8 years, depending on the nature and type of agricultural communities. An example of such a PC is the Nava Jyoti PC Community Enterprise System in the Rayagada district, one of the poorest in Orissa (www.navajyoti.org).



The funding and loan proposals considered by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) and/or other financial institutions must directly release funds to the PC, being the project executing agency (PEA), on behalf of its members, also make such an intervention compulsory, when considering/sanctioning proposals, as it takes over all risks and responsibilities from its mostly illiterate, resource-poor members, leaving them to on-farm activities. Governments now need to make huge investment in agriculture for rolling back the high risk/cost conventional green revolution technologies, correcting the mistakes made in the past by now supporting and funding the low risk/cost agro ecology of each area also ensuring access own requirements of nutritious food and cash, if they are to be responsible for feeding the growing population, economic development and growth, getting back the poor rural producer communities at the centre of sustainable farming activities and in the long term.



Briefly, the functions of the PC will be:



- PCs will be set up by competence and capabilities of the rural producers, but mostly staffed by the local unemployed educated, trained as general practitioners [GPs]/ MBAs in agriculture / professionals, to take over all risks and responsibilities other than on farm activities, requiring handholding by the village elders, CSO/NGO working with the community, till breakeven (about 5 years)

- Increase net incomes and purchasing power of members by contracting the local successful farmers following agro ecology of the area for own requirements of nutritious food, health and cash needs, surplus sold locally/in the vicinity, achieving long term sustainability

- Impart training of the successful farm models in the area, especially on farm production of quality inputs and water harvesting/conservation

- Contracting farmers for training on farm their successful models and wide replication of their low cost/risk agro ecology system

- Arrange with financial institutions (International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), NABARD, etc.) the annual limits for capital, seed capital and working capital needs

- Primary and secondary value addition to increase shelf life of produce/products, minimizing post-harvest losses and increasing net income/purchasing power

- Plan, budget and market produce/products at farm gate price to members/communities, for meeting their nutrition, food and health needs, surplus as reserves for emergencies, stored in PC and balance converted to cash in the vicinity (following the principles of food miles)

- Empowerment of women producers by fully involving them in the planning, budgeting, decision making and governance of the PC

- Convergence of government programmes and schemes for delivery through PC

- Etc.



Prior to setting up the PC by the rural producer communities, they need to be given all the information about the features of the PCs and the benefits that would accrue to them as members, preferably by the NGOs and the local government bodies they trust, as they have lost faith in the mainstream agriculture systems, having been driven to hunger, malnutrition, suicide and poverty (deep debt and distress) if we are to succeed in the execution of the project during its formative period. It is understood that their role would be confined to organizing communities, creating cadres, building trust, developing skills and overseeing the professionals staffing the PC, etc., thereafter ‘hand-holding’ until the business breaks even, they and the staff have the confidence to manage the ‘cash to cash cycle’, thereafter keeping an eye on the professionals and thus ensuring that the interests of the resource poor illiterate members are protected.

 

Subhash Mehta, Trustee,

Devarao Shivaram Trust,

NGO Association for Agricultural Research Asia Pacific (NAARAP),

Hegenahalli PO,

Devanahalli Taluka,

Bangalore Rural North,

Pin Code no: 562110,

India

Tel: +91-80-28494009 / +91-80-22712290,

e-mail: naarapdst (at) gmail.com



[To contribute to this conference, send your message to [log in to unmask] For further information, see http://www.fao.org/nr/research-extension-systems/res-home/news/detail/en/c/264776/  



########################################################################



To unsubscribe from the RAS-L list, click the following link:

https://listserv.fao.org/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=RAS-L&A=1


ATOM RSS1 RSS2