Walmart helps link 8 lakh producers to markets; farm groups sceptical
TechnoServe, a non-profit organisation that operates in 30 countries, began its association with coffee farmers in the Araku Valley in Andhra Pradesh about six years ago. Their intervention helped farmers create and manage Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs). Through eight such FPOs, the organisation claims, the farmers’ revenues have increased by over 500%.
Similarly, Digital Green, another non-profit that works among cashew farmers in the State, says a collective approach saw a 13% increase in cashew prices. Professional Assistance for Development Action (PRADAN), also a non-profit working to promote FPOs, says it helped women farmers cut out middlemen.
What connects these three with the FPOs is the global farm products giant, Walmart, which funds these projects through the Walmart Foundation, its philanthropy arm. The company has created a network that links farmers directly to the retail market. This enhances its own capacity to enter India’s retail market if and when it is allowed to, tapping into a retail industry that Boston Consulting Group last year pegged to reach approximately $2 trillion by 2032.