Economic Growth India Project #2022

Empower Women Farmers in India

by Seva Mandir

Project Report | Oct 2, 2018
What do Farmers think about our Lentil Mill

By Atul Lekhra | Manager- Resource Mobilization

Dear Friend,

At Seva Mandir we have put in a sustained effort to economically empower the residents of Southern Rajasthan. Through our Natural Resource Development unit and Self Help Group Programmes there has been several income generating activities (IGAs) which have yielded positive results. The Dal (Lentil) Mill, one of the major IGAs, was set up and has made a lot of progress over the years. The Dal Mill obtains organic pulses from local farmers at competitive but fair rates and then sells the produce after it has been processed. Once a profit has been achieved it is then distributed among the farmers.

In the words of Kesar, “We are small village farmers. I own a piece of land. The major crops I sow and harvest every year are wheat, maize and pulses. I have a family of 6 people. After storing the required amount of crops for annual consumption at home, there is very little left to sell in the market. This is the story for most of us in this region. There is no market here. The nearest market is about 40 kms away in Khedbrahma district of Gujarat state. To go there we have to hire local jeeps. These jeep operators charge Rs.100 ($1.38) per quintal of produce plus anything between Rs.30-50 ($0.41-0.69) for our own travel. Often times we have to pay taxes at the border as we cross over from Rajasthan state to Gujarat state. As we reach Bhiloda market, we have no knowledge of the day’s price for the particular produce we take along with us. In the market we have to take the route of commission agents who charges commission between Rs.30-50 ($0.41-0.69) per quintal for their services. They never ask us of the production cost before fixing the price of our produce. There is no clarity in their price fixing method. In most cases it is below the actual market price. There is no clarity either on the weighing of our produce as in most cases it is done with manual weighing scales. Then comes the list of deductions. Deduction of moisture content, deduction of weight of sacks, deduction of weight of produce more than 20 Kgs or its multiples (in market, full price is paid for 20 kgs of produce or its multiples. If there is anything more than that less than half the price of produce is paid for the balance amount) and God knows what not deductions, they do. We have no dignity there. We are treated as if we are not sellers of our produce but someone who are at their mercy. And then there is the cost of returning home and in all of the day’s work losing out on a day’s wage.”

It is shocking to find out that farmers like Kesar are spending about Rs.500 ($7) per quintal in selling their produce in the market.

Kesar continued, “And then one day the miracle happened. Seva Mandir has been working here since the last three decades and over the years have done a number of interventions to improve our lives and livelihoods. It was the year 2008. Seva Mandir gathered us and formed a group which we fondly named ‘Nala Bachat Samiti’ and established agri procurement centers in the village in which smallholder farmers like myself can sell our produce at fair prices.”

This is just one of the story, many more farmers like Kesar are happy today and thank Seva Mandir for making their lives easier and happier.

It is because of your support we have been able to help increase the profits of these poor farmers. Thanks to your trust and support, the lentil mill has continued to grow over time, increasing the income of thousands of farmers who would have otherwise been exploited in the supply chain.

We look forward to your continuous support, and if your travel brings you to this part of the world, please do visit us.

Warm Regards,

Atul Lekhra and the Seva Mandir Team

Follow us on www.facebook.com/sevamandir

Links:

Seva Mandir's Facebook Page

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Jul 3, 2018
A Lifeline via Lentils - Empowering Farmers

By Atul Lekhra | Manager- Resource Mobilization

Dear Friend,

Many farmers must travel long distances over difficult terrain to reach their nearest markets to sell their produce to exploitative and predatory local dealers. Seva Mandir’s Dal Mill (lentil processing) project aims to increase the incomes of poor farmers and their families by purchasing their goods and giving them a fair price for their produce. In the process, the farmers are also being trained to become co-owners of the mill.

Raj (name changed), a farmer who sells his lentils to the mill says “I have been selling my produce at this mill since 2010. It has made my life easy. Earlier, I had to travel 40 Kms to sell my produce. The local dealers used to exploit the poor farmers like us, by weighing less and giving low prices of the lentils. But now, with the lentil mill, we are given fair prices and instantaneous payment of our goods. I have been able to save some money for my children’s education”.

Similarly, Pradeep (name changed), a farmer from the Cheekhla village came to the Dal Mill which is about 5 Kms away. When asked as to why he and other farmers chose to sell their produce to Seva Mandir’s Dal Mill over the nearest market. He said “Not only do farmers get a fair price for their produce but there is transparency in the functioning of the mill and payment is made instantaneously for the produce being sold”. Pradeep also feels that the Dal Mill has helped farmers a lot by not only saving their transportation costs but also preventing the situation of distress selling to the local dealers at times of crisis. He has been selling his produce to the Dal Mill for a couple of years now.

We look forward to your continuous support, and if your travel brings you to this part of the world, please do visit us.

Warm Regards,

Atul Lekhra and the Seva Mandir Team

Follow us on www.facebook.com/sevamandir

Links:

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Apr 4, 2018
Holistic Development: Story of Kishan

By Atul Lekhra | Manager- Resource Mobilization

Dear Friend

I hope that you and your loved ones are keeping well.

Whilst much of Europe and North America are still shivering through one of the longest cold Winters on record, Spring has most definitely come to this part of Rajasthan.

2018 sees the 50th anniversary of Seva Mandir and while we have many achievements to reflect upon there are constant and changing challenges. Key to the core of Seva Mandir’s ideals has always been fair and equitable practices and how to bring these to the far-flung villages of tribal southern Rajasthan.

Kishan is a farmer in Medi village, Kotra block and lives near to the lentil mill with his parents, wife and two children.

Before Seva Mandir helped to construct the lentil mill in 2011, Kishan was obliged to take his pulse crop into Kher market, across the state border in Gujarat, some 30 km away. The cost of transport was about Rs 50 (US$ 0.77) per sack of pulses and the local traders always rounded down the weight Kishan was selling. They also automatically deducted a further amount on the basis that the sacks would contain stones and other objects to make up the weight.

To add insult to injury the traders were slow to pay and were also money-lenders to Kishan and all the other poor farmers so that they could buy seed from them for next year’s crop. This effectively created a debt trap and the farmers were forced to return to the trader, who had loaned them the money at high rates, to sell their produce at low rates.

Kishan estimated that, without counting the time it took him to physically get his produce to market, he lost between Rs 600–800 (US$ 9–12) per 100 kg of lentils. When you consider that the average income per person in this area is Rs 60–80 a day (GBP 0.70–0.90 or US$ 1.00–1.25) that is a great deal of money to lose.

Since the lentil mill opened, many farmers have started to grow much more than their own family’s requirements, to increase their income. They only have a short distance to travel, the price paid for their produce is a fair market price, based on the exact weight of the pulses and they are paid immediately.

With his increased income, Kishan has been able to buy livestock to further increase the use of his land. He has also sent his two children to school and wants to be able to save as much as possible to help pay for their studies so that they can get decent jobs in the future.

Kishan is on the committee and part of the cooperative and a stakeholder in the lentil mill. 500 other farmers in the area also benefit from selling their produce through the mill, so Kishan’s story is multiplied 500 times over.

Without your help, these small-scale farmers would still be reliant on the middlemen who used to cheat them. So, in addition to helping poor farming families have a better life, you are helping hundreds of children attend school – a very worthwhile investment, of value to whole communities !

Thank you so much.

Regards

Atul Lekhra and the Seva Mandir Team

Links:

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