Flipkart and ICAR-IIMR Come Together to Enable Market Access to FPOs and SHGs

In a game-changing initiative to support vocals for locals through an online marketing platform, Flipkart and ICAR-IIMR come together to enable market access for FPOs and SGHs. India’s biggest homegrown e-commerce marketplace, Flipkart India Pvt Ltd inked a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to enable market access for FPOs/SHGs promoted by IIMR across the country by procuring high-quality products directly from the FPOs.

Through this collaboration, Flipkart plans to empower local farming communities and SHGs by providing pan-India market access to more than 4000 million customer base on its platform. The company also plans to further engage with these communities via virtual and on-ground training and capacity-building initiatives to provide them with an understanding of the quality, price, and licenses required to be a part of the FPO ecosystem through this collaboration.

On the other end of the deal, ICAR-IIMR will provide support with infrastructure and approvals necessary to take the collaboration forward.

Talking about the alliance, the director of ICAR-IIMR, Dr. CV Ratnavathi said, “IIMR’s vision is to transform subsistence farming of millets into a globally competitive climate resilient nutri-cereal enterprise through value-addition to meet food, feed, fodder, nutrition and bio-fuel requirements of the country for equitable prosperity through millets."

"E-commerce platforms like Flipkart can play a pivotal role in the development of India’s farming ecosystem by leveraging the power of technology and the digital medium to provide access to a nationwide market. Through our collaboration with Flipkart, we aim to improve the operations of small and marginal farmers and FPOs by sharpening their skills and knowledge, which, in turn, will boost their economic and social development,” he continued. 

Speaking at the MoU signing event, Smrithi Ravichandran, Vice President- Grocery, Flipkart said that the company is dedicated to creating new avenues of progress for all its stakeholders. She said that the MoU signed with ICAR-IIMR is another step toward Flipkart’s commitment to handhold farming communities and to ensure improved income and business opportunities with adequate knowledge, training, and market access, creating mutually shared value for all stakeholders in agriculture with a focus on increasing business and trade inclusion opportunities for small and marginal farmers of FPOs.

She also stated that Flipkart has trained over 10,000 farmers across the country, on product quality and food safety.