The Challenge
A Brief Background- Why Introduce
Aggregation Into the Farmer Journey?
Meghalaya is a largely agrarian state that fails to trade agricultural commodities at its fullest potential. The agriculture sector is informally organized. Most farmers have very low land ownership with an average of 0.6 acres of land and tend to sow, grow, and sell independently. This self-reliance has meant that farmers have little to no negotiation powers with bulk buyers and cannot build their material capacity over time. These combinations of factors also mean that companies find it difficult to work with the farmers in the state and choose to take their business elsewhere.
The Smart Village Solution
A One-Stop-Shop for all farmer needs that support farmers with advisory services, scaling opportunities, finance and market linkages.
Project: SVM-eFresh Farmer Development Centres
The FDCs aim to act as a medium between farmers, businesses and agri-input providers. An entrepreneur-run establishment, the centres have an inbuilt tech-enabled ecosystem that provides farmers with advisory services, quality inputs, capacity building opportunities, and market linkages.
Project data & Location
Over the past year, through the efforts of SVM, Govt. of Meghalaya, and eFresh Global, we have launched 4 Farmer Development Centres across the East Khasi Hills and West Jaintia Hills districts.
Entrepreneurs in Sohrarim and Laskien have begun mobilisation events along with conducting field studies to thoroughly understand the on-ground needs and design an operational plan that is suitable to individual locations.
THE INFRASTRUCTURE & TEAM
The FDCs have been refurbished and the respective entrepreneurs have taken ownership of their businesses.
ROLE IN THE COMMUNITY
The entrepreneurs have begun field studies to establish the on-ground needs in their respective areas.
Empowering the Rural Farmers
Impact
- ENTREPRENEURSHIP OPPORTUNITIES FOR 3 LOCAL FDC MANAGERS.
- RESOURCES TO HELP FROM 10-15 VILLAGES AROUND THE AREA OF THE
PILOT PROGRAM. - BRINGING EQUITY AND GLOBAL MARKET LINKAGES AND KNOWLEDGE TO EMPOWER FARMERS AND THEIR COMMUNITY.
Next Up for the Community
SVM-eFresh will begin operations across all locations and onboard farmers from 10 surrounding villages to utilise FDC’s services.
The SVM Platform
The SVM-Berkeley curated open innovation platform builds an Open Innovation ecosystem that connects the villager’s challenges to corporates, academic research, and state governments.
We help leverage shared capital and operational resources with co-innovation and collaborative engagements bringing optimum solutions to rural challenges.
Our Vision
A shift to high-quality agriculture practices for remote rural areas in Meghalaya and one day all over India & the world.
Contribute & Participate
Corporates, non-profit organizations or volunteers interested in partnering with SVM, please Contact us to learn more about our work and how you can participate.
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Empower the rural world.