Hyderabad, Aug 19: Flipkart, India’s homegrown e-commerce marketplace, on Friday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Institute of Millets Research (IIMR) to enable market access for Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) and Self-Help Groups (SHGs).
The MoU document exchange was held between Flipkart & Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)-IIMR, the e-commerce firm said in a release.
Through this partnership, Flipkart aims to empower local farming communities and SHGs by providing pan-India market access to more than 400 million customers on its platform while ICAR-IIMR will extend support with infrastructure and necessary approvals to take this partnership forward.
As part of this collaboration, Flipkart will further engage with these communities through virtual and on-ground training and capacity-building initiatives to provide them with an understanding of the quality, pricing, and licenses required to be a part of the FPO ecosystem.
Dr. CV Ratnavathi, Director, ICAR-IIMR, 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.
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, Dr Ratnavathi added.
Speaking at the event, Smrithi Ravichandran, Vice President – Grocery, Flipkart, said, the MoU signed with ICAR-IIMR is another step towards our commitment to handhold farming communities and to ensure improved income and business opportunities with adequate knowledge, training, and market access, creating mutual shared value for all stakeholders in Agriculture with a focus on increasing business and trade inclusion opportunities for small and marginal farmers of FPOs.
Flipkart has trained over 10,000 farmers across the country on product quality and food safety.
With UNI Inputs….
