How can markets work better for farmers?

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Farmers need markets – to sell their produce and to buy the inputs they need to farm. But markets are failing small-scale farmers. Too often they don’t get a fair price for what they produce or inputs are overpriced and poor quality. Finance systems for purchases and the way they get paid don’t work well, so they struggle to pay for the services and inputs they need. To help tackle the problem, the Sustainable and Resilient Farming Systems Intensification (SRFSI) project has been exploring new business models and partnerships with the private sector.

Sachrani Devi (yellow sari) visits the maize storage shed belonging to brothers Rajiv Kumar and Randhi Kumar. The Kumar brothers have a great story to tell as a result of SFSRI. Initially with support from the project they had planned to sell fertilisers and pesticides for farmers in their community however the tight laws in the State of Bihar made that difficult. Then the brothers began buying maize from other farmers and transporting it to Purnea city and selling it directly to the wholesale buyers. Now after just two years of maize buying and selling they are buying the maize from 300 farmers in the surrounding area, all of whom have an average of 50 quintles each, its estimated this year they’re selling 1500 tonnes of maize.

Abishek Dokania visits one of his companies maize storage facilities. Abishek is one of the key five staff members of DeHaat (AgRevolution in English) a recently established social enterprise working across North India. This warehouse holds 5000 metric tons and the DeHaat has four this size. The warehouse and sheer scale of maize highlights how DeHaat is also prvoding market linkages for farmers as well as the inputs and information. By cutting out the middle men they give a slightly better price of 1.5% to the farmers and they can also give a slightly better price to the buyers as well. DeHaat along with Jeveeka and BAU (Bihar Agricultural University) are key partners in SFSRI’s work in Bihar. SFSRI is part of the Sustainable Development Investment Portfolio co-funded by ACIAR and DFAT and is introducing conservation agriculture and sustainable intensification across the Eastern Gangetic Plains in Bangladesh, India and Nepal and so far more than 100,000 farmers have taken part in the project.

Ashwini Kanta Barman serves customers at his small shop that sells agricultural inputs in Putulpur Village, Birganj Sub-district, Dinajpur District. Ashwini set up his shop in July 2018 and with the support of RDRS a Bangladeshi NGO and project partner that has been working with farmers to introduce conservation agriculture and sustainable intensification through the SFSRI project. SFSRI is part of the DFAT and ACIAR co-funded Sustainable Development and Intensification Program that is working in the Eastern Gangetic Plains with communities across Bangladesh, India and Nepal.

The project is being implemented by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT) who have been commissioned by ACIAR as part of the Australian aid Sustainable Development Investment Portfolio (SDIP) program. SDIP works with regional partners to improve the management of water, energy and food resources in the Eastern Gangetic Plains.

One of the key strategies is to bring farmers together with business, government and researchers in platforms to innovate and create new ways of doing business that create win-wins in agricultural markets.

“The project works to empower farmers in their relationships with other market actors and to create financial incentives for businesses to better support farmers. One example is one-stop-shops. The model is based on building trusting commercial relations between the farmer and the inputs and service providers who are linked with the one-stop-shop.”
— Dr Brendan Brown, CIMMYT

In West Bengal, Satmile Satish Club has emerged as not just a site for training farmers in conservation agriculture but also as a platform for business innovation. Since approval from NABARD in 2015 to become a Producer Organisation Promoting Institution (POPI), the organisation now mentors a total of 37 Farmer Producer Organisations across three districts of West Bengal.

“We, Satmile Satish Club, provide custom hiring centres, machine technical support, hands-on training, and capacity building development and the different types of machinery that are there, especially the Conservation Agriculture related and Sustainable Intensification practices that are there those machines we sell to them”
— Amal Roy, Director of Satmile Saatish Club

Another example of a business working to enable farmers is AgRevolution in Bihar, an innovative new start up company who have developed the DeHaat model. The DeHaat model connects farmers to the latest technologies, provides technical advice, crop inputs and a market for produce.

“Where our strength lies is in providing better inputs at right time, at right quality, and at right price.”
— Amrendra Singh, DeHaat

In Bangladesh, agriculture companies have developed relationships with farmer run small shops, that sell agricultural inputs and share knowledge with other local farmers. The farmer run small shops were established as part of innovation hub that emerged in a number of villages across Bangladesh where the SRFSI project was being implemented.

CASI farmers Robi Mardi and wife Pranati Murman are strong supporters of the new farming practices, and in addition to farming their own land they also run one of these such shops in Mohonpur Village, Rangpur District, Bangladesh. Their shop recently became certified to sell fertilisers and pesticides which has increased their capacity to stock a broader range of products for farmers.

These examples from Bangladesh, West Bengal and Bihar highlight how the SRFSI project is working to create a win-win scenario for farmers, input suppliers and traders of farm produce.