Small Farmers, Prosperous Farmers – Hopes from Central India
Breaking the prevailing cycles of low production, a few small farmers are becoming prosperous by transiting to a state of high returns; they are driven by a passion to grow by working on their existing lands, keeping themselves updated on the latest developments in the agricultural sector and choosing their crop
Abstract
P RADAN, a national-level NGO working for the promotion of livelihoods of rural poor communities in tribal pockets of Central India for the past 30 years, joined a study called ‘Small Farmers, Prosperous Farmers (SFPFs)’. The study is focused entirely on the tribal belt of Central India, where the terrain is hilly and undulating and has poor irrigation facilities. Along with under-performing natural resources, these regions also have under-developed markets. Yet, there are examples of enterprising farmers, who have overcome the vicious cycle of poverty of this region, have created wealth for themselves and have helped many other farmers to prosper.
A systematic study of a few selected representatives of this dispersed tribe of individuals has revealed the factors and forces that lead to small farmers (with less than 2 ha of land) doing well in such challenging circumstances. An overarching commonality found in the farmers interviewed was that they were all exceptionally entrepreneurial—being achievement-oriented, ambitious, knowledge seeking, willing to take calculated risks, mobilizing their own financial resources and building effective functional linkages with the relevant stakeholders. Another factor that has contributed enormously to their success is the availability of assured irrigation, which they developed either by investing their personal resources in setting up irrigation facilities or drawing funds from a government scheme. These farmers have also taken calculated risks and invested time and energy in gathering the latest available knowledge and know-how on agricultural practices and markets. The success stories were all of vegetable farmers, probably because of the opportunities accorded by the difficult terrain and the deficit markets. Interestingly, none of the farmers was linked in any large measure with any of the mainstream programmes or services of agriculture extension, bank credit or insurance. Many of them were part of PRADAN’s agriculture development programmes and were pioneers in their own right because PRADAN intervened in poverty pockets, where such entrepreneurs did not exist.