Boosting Women-Led FPOs : Daily Current Affairs

Relevance: GS-2: Issues relating to the development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.

Relevance: GS-3: Inclusive growth and issues arising from it.

Key phrases: Self Help Groups, Farmers producer organization, women led FPCs, CSR funds, women FPOs, Not-for-profit organizations, Apni Saheli FPO, The state of food and agriculture.

Why in News?

Aggregation of farmers to empower them has been a focus area for long. Cooperatives played their role in this effort. More recently the Self Help Groups movement through empowering women and provision of a legal framework for Farmer Producer Companies have given a new fillip to this effort.

Context:

From a few hundred FPCs five years ago, today there are around 8,000 plus registered FPOs and the number could double by 2024, if the government plan is any indication.
Across the country, it is estimated that 73.2 percent of the rural female workforce works in agriculture (compared to 55 percent of male workers). Approximately 80 percent of all economically active women are employed by the agricultural sector. Though women dominate various spheres of farming, their contribution has been largely neglected. This needs to change to ensure inclusive growth in the rural economy.
In FPO space too, the engagement of women in governance and managerial positions is negligible. But not all is not lost. Since, NCDEX started actively engaging with FPCs to make them aware of price risk management using modern market tools several success stories of women led FPCs are coming to the fore.

Example of Women FPOs:

In Rajasthan, Apni Saheli FPO is an example of women empowerment. There are over 50,000 women working under 5,000 SHGs in Dholpur, which is among the most backward districts in Rajasthan. Apni Saheli is working in forward integration, from crop procurement to establishing the linkage with the futures market for better price realisation.
The FPO developed training modules for women which have raised productivity by 60-70 per cent in bajra and wheat with a simultaneous cut in cost of production. The FPO is also exploring tie-ups with Big Basket and Subziwala for direct marketing of their produce. As a result household income for most of the women farmers has increased by 70-100 per cent in the last 3-4 years.
The story of Bihar’s Sahyog Women Jeevika Agro Producer Company, an eight-year old 100 per cent women FPO with membership of around 2,000 small farmers is awe inspiring. Going beyond traditional localised marketing today it is highly successful in using modern marketing tools such as futures trade to hedge prices and provide much higher returns to hundreds of member farmers.
The example of Kiran Devi, a daily wager struggling to feed her six-member family a decade ago, with a small piece of land and laden with huge debt of the local moneylender is inspirational. Today Kiran Devi is a dynamic board member of Aranyak Agri Producer Company Ltd (AAPCL), again in Bihar and supported by the rural livelihood promotion agency JEEVIKA. The 3,000 member strong AAPCL gained immensely from the futures platform for marketing their maize crop that resulted in a 20 per cent extra income for about 800 farmers in the in the State.
Thousands of enterprising women are exploring various models of women FPOs in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka among others.

Challenges remains:

Despite the empirical evidence of the economic benefits of aggregation of women producers, women’s membership in FPOs continues to be abysmal. The study delved deeper to understand the underlying reasons and identify the key deterrents to women’s participation.

Gender and social norms restricting women’s mobility and financial empowerment: as three out of four women farmers had to seek permission to move outside the community and only a half of them could go outside unescorted. Furthermore, only 17% of women reported making an independent financial decision in the past one year. These two in conjunction marred the women’s ability to participate in the farmer’s collectives as they are largely confined to the four walls, with poor access to market and limited financial autonomy.
Poor knowledge of agricultural practices and crop production: The gender gap in knowledge of agricultural practices such as soil preparation, crop rotation, climate smart agriculture, irrigation, and storage was quite high and it furthered women’s subjugation at FPOs. They continue to be farm labourers rather than being a shareholder or board member in these FPOs.
Policy measures and the FPO ecosystem needs strengthening to increase women’s participation: The recently announced 10,000 FPOs scheme isn’t gender transformative in nature and ignores women farmers. There are no gender specific targets for promoting women FPOs and participation of women farmers in mixed FPOs except for the mandate to have at least one female board member.

Policy support needed:

Specific policy support that recognises women led FPCs can pave the way to make them the beacon of women empowerment.

Government schemes such as Dena Shakti Scheme, Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana may be tweaked to for easy access to capital for women FPCs.
NITI Aayog’s Moving the Needle programme through The Women Entrepreneurship Platform can specifically target women led FPCs.
RBI may create guidelines under PSL norms for easier access to capital for all women FPOs with practically no collateral.
Increasing digital literacy through training and capacity building of women farmers through their FPOs will go a long way in keeping them up to date with technological tools.
Leadership and governance training of such FPOs will ensure their long-term and financial viability.

More to be needed:

Apart from support from government through the above measures other players such as NGOs can also play an important role in creating the right eco system.

Corporates may allot their CSR funds to building capacities of women FPOs and helping them with business linkages.
Technologies should be developed to suit women farmers as well as ease the drudgery of household work.
Not-for-profit organizations may work towards changing the mind-set among both women and men in villages towards supporting women in the entrepreneurial activities, operate their own bank accounts and become more self-reliant.

Farmers producer organization are group of rural producers coming together based on the principle of membership, to purse specific common interests of their members and developing technical and economic activities that benefit their members and maintain relations with partners operating in their economic and institutional environment.

Objectives:

To provide holistic and broad-based supportive ecosystem to form near 10,000 FPOs.
To enhance productivity through efficient, cost-effective and sustainable resource use and realize higher returns through better liquidity and market linkages.
To provide effective capacity building to FPOs to develop agriculture entrepreneurship skills to become economically viable and self-sustaining.
To provide handling and support to new FPOs upto to 5 years from the years of creation in all aspects of management of FPO, inputs, production, processing and value addition, market linkage, credit linkage and use of technology etc.

Way Forward:

We need more focus on developing and supporting women led FPOs which will have a multiplier effect on agriculture, families and rural economy. FAO report of ‘The state of food and agriculture’ says that women can achieve 20-30 per cent higher yields than men in agriculture. It is in the interest of the country to pay attention to women led or women-only FPOs.

Source: The Hindu BL

Mains Question:

Q. “The women led FPOs is crucial for the rural economy and ensuring inclusive growth.” Critically analyse the statement.