Flipkart and the Indian Institute of Millets Research (IIMR) on Friday signed an MoU seeking to enable market access on the e-commerce platform for farmer producer organisations and self-help groups.
As part of the partnership, Flipkart said that it aims to empower local farming communities and SHGs by providing a pan-India market access to more than 400 million customers. Further, it will engage with these communities through virtual and on-ground training and capacity-building initiatives focused on the quality, pricing and licences needed to be a part of the FPO ecosystem.
ICAR-IIMR will extend support with infrastructure and necessary approvals to take the partnership forward, Flipkart said in a release.
“Through the collaboration, we aim to improve operations of small and marginal farmers and FPOs by sharpening their skills and knowledge, which will boost their economic and social development,” said IIMR director C.V. Ratnavathi.
Flipkart vice president of Grocery Smrithi Ravichandran said that the MoU is another step of the firm to handhold farming communities, especially small and marginal farmers of FPOs, to ensure improved income and business opportunities with adequate knowledge, training and market access and creating mutual shared value for all stakeholders.
