Grameen Foundation India, with assistance from UPPRO, successfully organized a Buyer-Seller meet in Lucknow . The aim of this event was to strengthen marketing opportunities for 100-plus Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) covering 58,000 small and marginal farmers in 28 districts of Uttar Pradesh, with the support of renowned donor such as the Walmart Foundation.
The event brought together representatives from 100 plus FPOs and 20 reputable buyers/marketplace actors, bankers, NBFCs, insurance service providers, logistic providers, etc to explore and facilitate business opportunities with FPOs. Government departments, top financial institutions, Agri-tech firms, and promoting organizations gave their full support.
Mr Arabdha Das, Grameen Foundation India’s Director of Program Excellence, and Mr Rajnikant Prasad, Grameen Foundation’s Project Director, welcomed the guests and participants. Grameen’s team of Nitin Srivastava, Anita Yadav, Rupali Awade, Neha Singh, Mahfuz Alam, Srishti Jha and Mehak Nayyar coordinated the event.
The UPPRO was represented by Mr Ramesh Mishra, Mr Rajesh Verma and Mr Baldev Shukla.
The event had informative sessions on how FPOs are being strengthened with government initiatives, and market and financial linkages.
The chief guest for the event was Mr S.K. Dora (Chief General Manager, NABARD) and the special guest was Dr. Devesh Chaturvedi (IAS, Additional Chief Secretary, Agriculture, Government of Uttar Pradesh). Along with him, several distinguished personalities such as Dr Pankaj Tripathi (Director, State Institute of Management for Agriculture), Dr Jitender Singh Tomar (MD, UP State Seed Development Corporation), Dr R.K Singh (Joint-Director, Pulses Bureau, FPO Nodal, UP), Dr Mukesh Gautam (Ex-Director, Agriculture and consultant World Bank), and Dr Bishnu Pratap Singh (Ex-Agriculture Director, Consultant, World Bank) shared their insights and experiences on these topics.
Dr. Mukesh Gautam moderated the session on market linkages. The market-place actors such as Dehaat, Multi Commodity Exchange, ITC, IFFCO, Agricart, Somnath Exports, Bayer Crop Science, Mandi One, Syngenta, Dhanuka,, PI Industry, Advanta, UPL and Nagarjuna Fertilisers, etc were present in the event.
The session on financial linkages session was enriched by Mr Saiprasad Somayajula (Group Head- Samunnati Agri Innovations Labs), Mr Jaiveer Singh (Chief Manager, Bank of Baroda), Mr Niraj Lal (Manager, Ananaya), Mr Puneet Kumar Rai (Manager, Aryadhan), and Mr Raj Shekhar (BDM, NABKISAN).
The buyer-seller meet proved to be a grand success, promoting marketing opportunities for small and marginal farmers, and facilitating business for FPOs. The event received positive feedback from all the participants, and Grameen Foundation hopes to continue supporting and empowering FPOs in the future.
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