Agriculture continues to be a mainstay for the Indian economy, marked by the dependence of approximately half on India’s population for livelihoods. However, a majority of the farmers are Small and Marginal Farmers holding less than 2 hectares of land, while the average landholding in India is dominated by a land size of 1 hectares. Increasingly agriculture has become unprofitable for the vast majority of farmers due to inefficiencies in production and limited access to resources, markets and technology.
Facilitation of farmer collectivization through farmer collectives via FPO (Farmer Producer Organization) formation has been identified as one of the most important strategies towards enhancing farmer livelihoods which is well attuned to the needs and demands of today’s times. The focus on FPO promotion has shifted the narrative of Indian agriculture from subsistence production to formation of ‘value led enterprises’ – empowering farmers through market driven initiatives.
The Government of India formally brought focus on FPOs through the announcement of the Central Sector Scheme, ‘Formation and Promotion of 10,000 FPOs’ in the Union Budget 2019-20. Under this a spurt of activities were undertaken and supported by the apex organisations, viz. NABARD, SFAC, NAFED, and NCDC. Under this the 10000th FPO formation milestone has also been achieved due to vigorous and co-ordinated efforts of all the stakeholders in the FPO ecosystem.
While the vision for FPO promotion relates to making FPOs sustainable and profitable, only a few are doing well on the ground. It therefore becomes critical to identify the small number of FPOs that have continuously pushed the bar and shown exemplary performance, and highlight their accomplishments amongst the sectoral audience with an aim to showcase them as role model FPOs. With this aim, ACCESS Development Services instituted the flagship FPO Impact Awards in 2018. The awards recognize exemplary FPOs which have overcome various challenges to successfully build self-sustaining businesses and contribute meaningfully to their member community. The Impact Awards also aim to recognise and felicitae such FPO Promoting and Enabling Institutions which have played an active role in formulating sustainable and scalable models, incubate innovative solutions and support policy for promoting a conducive ecosystem for the growth of FPOs.
The Awards initiative is a means to provide motivation to exemplary FPOs (registered as Farmer Producer Company under Companies Act 2013) / Cooperative registered on or after 2002) and Promoting Institutions to continue to enhance the livelihoods and incomes of small and marginal farmers, through providing recognition to their efforts. It also serves to enhance the credibility of the winning FPOs thereby making it more competitive among market players and financial institutions.
Submission :
The completed nomination forms as editable file attachment only, and supporting documents must be sent from the email id of either the FPO’s MD/CEO/COO/CFO or an employee of the promoting organisation with complete email signature to: