Business Call to Action

Missed the Webinar? Watch the webinar presentations: Sarita Bahl | Nisha Dutt Access the PowerPoint presentations: Sarita Bahl | Nisha Dutt

Small-holder farming represents the livelihood for about 70 percent of the world’s rural poor. Even incremental improvements in their yields or market opportunities have dramatic impacts on their family’s incomes and consequently impacts on its health, education and overall quality of life. Providing farmers with inputs such as training, improved seeds or agricultural information to help make informed decisions is often the first step to creating meaningful change in socio-economic conditions in rural communities.

On Sept. 29,  the Business Call to Action (BCtA) and the Business Innovation Facility took an in-depth look at how one company’s efforts — the Multi Commodity Exchange of India’s (MCX) — are working to promote rural farmers’ access to agricultural pricing information through its Gramin Suvidha Kendra (GSK) program. Featured speakers for the webinar included Sarita Bahl, Vice President of Corporate Social Opportunities of MCX, and Nisha Dutt, India Country Manager of the Business Innovation Facility and Associate Vice President of Intellecap.

Ms. Bahl kicked off the webinar with an overview of the GSK model efforts to reach rural smalholder farmers with access to commodity information and needed agricultural inputs. MCX’s model, which   leverages its knowledge of commodity markets for rural farmers, is creating a more level playing field for all stakeholders. Critical to the success of this program is MCX’s partnership with the national postal system in India, which ensures access and coverage in rural communities. Another key success factor is that the company is providing farmers with a wide array of support services at a minimal price. These services, including training, technical assistance and access to seeds, fertilizers and other inputs are helping farmers to build stronger business ventures.

Despite the success of the GSK program to date, the model is not without its challenges. The company must look to other partners in order to reach scale. Watch  Ms. Bahl’s presentation.

In response to Ms. Bahl’s presentation, Ms. Dutt provided a broader perspective on the challenges of last-mile distribution at the base of the pyramid. An expert in this area, Ms. Dutt gave an overview of the four basic models companies can adopt when distributing products or services to the base of the pyramid.

The webinar concluded with the assertion that there is no one-size fits all solution to companies wishing to reach the last mile. Companies first need to understand the their needs and wants before it can identify the best approach to meeting rural smallholder farmers.  Watch Ms. Dutt’s presentation.