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Walmart Foundation has announced new funding of $500,000 (approximately Rs 4 crore) for the Tata-Cornell Institute for Agriculture and Nutrition (TCI), to enhance its FPO (farmer producer organisation) database.
A statement said TCI is embarking on the next phase of its project to support smallholder farmers in India through the promotion of effective FPO models. The centre-piece of this effort is the further development of TCI’s database for Indian FPOs within the FPO hub of its Center of Excellence in New Delhi, it said.
The new funding of $500,000 from Walmart Foundation will aid in the understanding, development, and promotion of effective farm-aggregation models. This is in addition to TCI’s project on ‘FPO-led small farm market access models’, which received a grant of $1 million from Walmart Foundation in 2019, the statement said.
Quoting TCI Director, Prabhu Pingali, it said: “Strengthening FPO models is crucial to empowering India’s small farmers, to take advantage of the opportunity presented by rising demand for diverse agricultural products. The upgrades that we are making to the database for Indian FPOs will ensure that it continues to be an invaluable resource for all stakeholders interested in supporting FPOs.”
Julie Gehrki, Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer at Walmart Foundation, said: “With the new grant funding to the TCI, we are meaningfully advancing research into FPOs, which serve as vital infrastructure for promoting market access and strengthening business and agricultural practices. It aligns with our efforts in India to support programmes that benefit and improve livelihoods by enhancing opportunities for smallholder farmers in the country.”
The database for Indian FPOs features comprehensive information on more than 4,400 FPOs and will soon launch a beta version of the new platform containing information for over 26,000 producer organisations and FPOs, the statement said, adding, stakeholders can use the interactive dashboard to access a wealth of useful information, such as crops produced, founding years, sponsoring agencies, and basic financials.
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