Creating Sustainable Farming Movement
We believe that sustainable farming can become a high potential initiative to address multiple sustainable Development Goals together, if the entire value chain is supported and facilitated.
We wish to do this by positioning sustainable farming as a viable livelihood option for anyone who is interested, by providing education and facilitating revenue realization through marketing and trading support.
We wish to establish a group of vocational training institutions where the rural youth would be trained on a working farm, certified and are then offered to join a Farmer Producer Organization (FPO). The initial investment would be facilitated as a loan from the institute or one of the local banks under the existing schemes supporting farmers. The produce would be centrally marketed under the brand of FPO and the revenue is directly transferred to the farmer , after deducting a nominal management fee, as per the norms of the FPO.
We propose to solve the following problems
1. Viability of sustainable farming
2. Formal Education not leading to employment/ livelihood generation
3. High costs of farming and farm inputs
4. Migration to urban areas for livelihood
5. Unhealthy farm produce due to use of chemicals and pesticides
6. Lack of Gender equality due to low income potential for rural women
7. No value addition for produce
8. Lack of effective marketing solutions for farm produce
We aim to solve them by targeting and achieving the following objectives
Positioning Sustainable Farming as a viable livelihood option, by generating sustainable and exciting amounts of revenue from small farm holdings , with regular cash flows at weekly, monthly and quarterly intervals.
Transforming education into a livelihood generator, by creating a hands on practical learning model leveraging best practices
Produce affordable food options by reducing the costs of farming , reducing hunger
Promoting healthy eating and reducing health risks
Promoting responsible production and consumption without a premium cost
Promoting gender equality by encouraging women farmers to adopt sustainable farming
The solution is a multi-pronged value delivery system across the value chain.
We will establish working sustainable farms as training farms where we will be teaching the educated rural youth the processes and techniques of sustainable organic farming. The youth will learn these techniques by working on the farm and doing everything required by themselves from seed to harvest for one year, covering various types of produce and learning how to generate continuous income and cash flows from small plots of 2 to 3 acres.
We will then help them establish such a farm by providing the land and other infrastructure necessary , along with the initial guidance. These farms will be under our brand name so that all the produce can also be certified and marketed under the same brand. The necessary bank loans would be arranged for the trained youth to start their farms.
We will also be setting up small units for value addition to the produce.
We will be collecting the harvest and marketing the same to the nearby urban markets reducing the distance transported. WE will also be delivering the right quality fresh produce , improving the health of consumers and promoting responsible consumption.
There are two groups of target beneficiaries- the urban consumers and the rural jobless youth.
The rural youth are mobilized, trained and are organized as members of farmer producer company, which works like a limited liability firm with all farmers as members. This provides them a solid, scalable solution for regular income generation. They get the necessary support and hand holding throughout their journey of becoming a successful sustainable farming practitioners.
The urban consumers are staying away from organic produce due to prohibitive prices. By reducing the farm inputs and through better produce storage management, we propose to make the organic produce very affordable to every consumer in the market, thus revolutionizing the fresh produce consumption.
Our solution ensures that the farmers are getting more than a fair price and the consumers are getting highly affordable organic healthy produce, creating a win -win solution and a perfect product-market fitment.
We will also be reducing the wastage by setting up small units for producing value added products which generate more income, create more jobs while delivering high quality products to consumers at attractive prices.
- Support small-scale producers with access to inputs, capital, and knowledge to improve yields while sustaining productivity of land and seas
The challenge we have selected is to create sustainable food systems. As explained above, the farming has become very costly due to huge input costs and is not viable due to poor market access and dependency on middlemen. We propose to improve on both these areas.
The end objective is to create a sustainable system of responsible and healthy food production and consumption, which creates a positive impact on both farmers and the consumers.
Unlike the existing solutions which are enabling only a part of the value chain, we provide a comprehensive solution.
- Concept: An idea being explored for its feasibility to build a product, service, or business model based on that idea
- A new business model or process
Our solution brings all the players together and makes active participation possible and profitable. This is where our innovation exists.
The banks are willing to give farm loans provided there is low risk.
The consumers are looking for organic food choices, provided they are affordable and easily accessible.
The youth are interested in education options which can lead to lucrative business options which is profitable, less costly and not labor intensive. They also want regular and steady income streams.
The training institutes have the knowledge and techniques to share but are limited in their ability to help and support the trainees to start their own organic farms.
The government is keen to promote the organic farming and is willing to provide the necessary support but cant directly become a market player.
Our solution brings all these stakeholders together into the same business model where they can actively and profitably participate.
We want to promote a light weight model of organic farming which is very different from water intensive and labor intensive conventional farming. The whole process dramatically reduces the input costs while generating a regular cash flow for the farmer, which is another critical success factor.
This model fundamentally changes the whole approach. While most of the organic farms try to focus on export markets, we would like to disrupt the local markets so that the cost of transport and overall carbon footprint is limited.
Our biggest innovation would be enabling the farmers to share their own innovations/ best practices.
Core technology is a well established organic farming process. We will be technology driven but our innovation is a new business model. We will have the following platforms / apps built for running specific business processes.
1. Farmer Connect - will be an app where all the alumni are connected to share their local innovations and challenges.
2. Market Connect - This is an app for sharing and leveraging local market opportunities where they can send their produce.
3. Orgo - This is the app where the end customers can order the fresh produce which would be delivered directly from the nearest farm. We will promote the membership model as well to ensure low customer acquisition costs and high Lifetime Value.
4. Farmorganic - This is the platform used for managing the complete process of Farmer Producer Organization with complete transparency and governance.
All the technologies we re proposing to use are well established and are already in use in bits and pieces. We are bringing in an innovative business model to align and connect these dots.
- Audiovisual Media
- Biotechnology / Bioengineering
- Crowdsourced Service / Social Networks
- Software and Mobile Applications
The problem exists today because there is no end to end one stop solution meeting all the stakeholder needs. Every player in the value chain wants to mitigate their own risk. This is leading to lack of trust and cooperation.
We are essentially fixing this core issue by owning and managing the entire risk as well as the individual risks of all the stakeholders. This is where we are different.
Unlike the typical aggregator or market platforms which rarely assume any responsibility, we are taking the whole risk and responsibility. This may defy the conventional wisdom but the conventional wisdom has failed to solve the problem.
- Rural
- Peri-Urban
- Poor
- Low-Income
- Middle-Income
- 1. No Poverty
- 2. Zero Hunger
- 3. Good Health and Well-Being
- 4. Quality Education
- 5. Gender Equality
- 8. Decent Work and Economic Growth
- 10. Reduced Inequalities
- 11. Sustainable Cities and Communities
- 12. Responsible Consumption and Production
- 13. Climate Action
- India
- India
We are in the concept level. We will need support to take it to the market and prove the business model.
In the first year we will establish five vocational institutes, each with a 20 acre farm and school which would be come self sustainable within the first year. This will create 100 trained farmer members.
Year two will establish 100 small farms of 2 to 3 acre land size which will start producing food from the first month itself starting with greens and vegetables. Each of these hundred farms will serve and support fifty families of 4 members each. Thus the ecosystem will start positively impacting 20000 people within the first 18 months.
Year three will see 50 such institutes which will create 500 farmers and they will become operational from year four, impacting 100,000 people.
Our vision is to have one institute in each one of the 600+ districts of India in five years , generating 12000 farmers every year and impacting 2.5 million lives.
We also expect a lot of existing farmers with their own farm lands to join this revolution and this is when the exponential scale and growth would be achieved.
By the end of ten years, we expect to be operational in at least ten countries , serving 1 billion people by providing them safe, low cost and fresh organic food.
Our basic hurdle is financial in nature. The various components of the ecosystem are already in place. We need to create the business model and establish its credibility and viability.
We are experimenting on small scale but that will not help. We are looking for a grant or an investor who can fund the whole operation for the first five years without expecting any returns. From the year six, we would be able to generate reasonable return on investment.
- For-profit, including B-Corp or similar models
We expect each institution to be staffed by 10 teachers and 5 support staff. Most of the support functions would be outsourced , reducing the need for full time staff.
The parent umbrella organization would have a core team of ten people. All the technology work, digital marketing and out reach works would be outsourced to credible parties and NGOs.
Our core strength is our passion to make a difference and the our experience with various business models.
Our next important strength is our awareness and the connections with various credible partners who can help us create these solutions very quickly.
We don't have any formal agreements in place right now.
Our business model is based on the following revenue streams
- course fees for the training
- Consulting fee for setting up the farm
- Annual alumni membership fee to access the knowledge platform
- Marketing and sales fee as a percentage of sales proceeds.
In this manner, we are cultivating the customers along with the produce, making this a very unique and sustainable business model.
The core strengths of this model are
- Recession proof demand
- Affordability of the products for the end consumers who can enjoy certified organic produce at regular market rates , with direct to home delivery from farm within 8 hrs of harvesting
- Meeting the needs of every stakeholder in the ecosystem
- Ever growing demand and consumer base across the world making it highly scalable
- Banker friendly as the land will be available as collateral along with the institutional backing
- No infra/ outlet costs involved. Only branded battery run delivery vehicles , which also double up as moving billboards for marketing and advertising
- Zero waste of produce as cleaning, sorting and weighing is completed at the farm, making the produce ready for delivery with minimal handling.
- Minimal cost of farm inputs leading to cheaper and healthier produce
- No channel costs as we will promote customer subscription model with advance payments
Based on all the strengths mentioned above and the comprehensive business model, we are confident that this will be a hit.
- Individual consumers or stakeholders (B2C)
I want to capture my concept on paper and think through all the elements and features of the solution.
I also want my solution to be scrutinized and evaluated. This will help me to understand if we are thinking along the right lines.
I want to receive constructive feedback from the evaluating panel of experts so that I can fine tune this solution and take it to the pilot stage.
This is the first time I have come across the Solve platform and I want to explore and experience the whole process so that I can come back as required and recommend the same to other like minded social entrepreneurs.
- Funding and revenue model
- Board members or advisors
- Legal or regulatory matters
- Marketing, media, and exposure
I have mentored hundreds of entrepreneurs and I know that every entrepreneur falls in love with his idea and solution. I don't want to do that same mistake and wish my solution to be scrutinized and evaluated, even though it is at concept level.
Frankly speaking, this business model and solution sounds too good to be true. Any feedback received at this juncture would save a lot of time and money. It will also help us to strengthen the model and make it worthy of pilot.
We will need partner support from UNDP, ICRISAT, NABARD - India and Agricultural universities in India for teaching faculty support.
We will also look for some of the international foundations involved in impact investment like Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Our solution is highly scalable across the globe and can impact more than a billion people across the planet in the next five to ten years. Once we are able to establish the viability of the business model in the first year, it is just a question of replicating the basic model across different geographies. The more funds we get , the faster we can create the impact.
