SFAC to launch online platform to connect FPOs with buyers

In order to further strengthen its efforts to create effective market linkages for Farmer Producer Organisations (FPO) across India, the Small Farmers’ Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC) jointly with FICCI will launch a unique online portal which will enable FPOs to connect with potential buyers. SFAC, a specialised agency under the Ministry of Agriculture, has played a pivotal role in mobilising farmers across the country to form FPOs, which has enabled farmers in enhancing the productivity and earning better returns from their produce.
The conclave, scheduled for June 1, 2018 at FICCI, New Delhi, is going to be organised by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) in association SFAC, State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) and Tractors and Farm Equipment Limited (TAFE).
Explaining the importance of creating market linkages for FPOs, Sumanta Chaudhuri, Managing Director, SFAC said, “Market linkages remain one of the crucial areas for FPOs to emerge as successful enterprises and SFAC has played an integral role in opening up marketing channels for FPOs in India. SFAC will act as a facilitator to link both the stakeholders on a single platform. SFAC will certainly facilitate the process of providing real time information on the portal by FPO and buyer, where any subsequent trading is to be undertaken directly between them.”
The portal has been developed with the objective of connecting farmers to other stakeholders such as buyers, retailers, exporters, processors and wholesalers. It will serve as a common platform for buyers and sellers to interact with farmers, which in turn will help them earn the right prices for their produce. The portal is first of its kind and is focussed on plugging the information gaps between FPOs and organised buyers.
For long-term viability and sustainability of FPOs, credit from the banking system is a must. SFAC is taking initiatives towards creating credit linkages by providing enabler in the form of Credit Guarantee to banks against their collateral free lending to Farmer Producer Companies (FPCs). In this connection, SFAC is targeting individual banks for region-wise funding.