Perhaps for the first-time ever, the Central government is planning to set up a section 8 company of its own which would identify 20-30 farm and non-farm items from villages and develop a complete end to end solution for them.
The solutions could include identifying market linkages, countries where they can be exported and develop an end-to-end value chain for the product.
Officials said under the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM), the government is empowered to start a new section 8 company or a Farmers-Producer Organization (FPO) to support rural livelihood.
An FPO could get operational in the next 4-5 months. The company could be on the lines of the National Diary Development Board (NDDB) but outside the ambit of cooperatives. It would provide all possible professional support to the identified products and items.
"This section-8 company would be in the form of an FPO and will be supported by professionals from various fields," a senior official said.
A memorandum of understanding has already been signed with Tata Trusts and Bill and Melinda Gates foundation for training of manpower and professional support, an official said.
Going forward, the government plans to expand the FPO's operations into an integrated call centre to link prospective farmers with consumers and rural artisans with their buyer, located both domestically and even abroad.
Billed on the lines of Meghalaya government’s 1917 Toll Free number, the project could be a national helpline to directly link rural producers with consumers.
Meghalaya’s 1917-Toll Free has been a great success and according to some reports since December 2017 over 15,000 farmers have directly benefitted from the project. The farmers get connected to a pool of over 150 buyers, commercial start-ups, retailers, bulk buyers through the platform.
The mobile platform not only facilitates direct interface between buyers and sellers, but also acts as an enabler and facilitator in the entire gamut of agriculture extension services including transportation, veterinary services and raw material supplies.
“If the same model is replicated on a national level, it could be a game-changer for millions or rural artisans, farmers, livestock rearers etc who are not able to sustain their livelihoods for want of proper price for their products,” the official explained.
He said the proposed section 8 company would ideally want to tie-up with women-lead Self-help Groups (SHGs) and provide them a platform to market their products alongside developing a full-fledged value chain for the items produced by them through highest quality of professional help.
Key points
- Centre looking to set up new section 8 company or FPO to boost rural livelihood.
- The FPO could be on the lines of a NDDB but outside the cooperative framework.
- FPO could develop a platform to link rural producers with consumers in India and abroad for better price realisation.
- The FPO could be formed under the Centre’s flagship programme of National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM).