PRADAN

Building up farmer federations for rural India

About PRADAN and PANSI

Professional Assistance for Development Action (PRADAN) is a non-government, non-profit organisation that works with India's rural poor. Across seven of the poorest states in India, PRADAN promotes Self-Help Groups and develops locally suitable economic activities. Furthermore, the organisation mobilises finances and introduces systems to improve livelihoods of the rural poor. PRADAN is experienced in the promotion of producer's organisations in rural areas of India. One of these organisations supported by PRADAN, is the federation of producer groups, called Panchkot Nari Samiti (PANSI) in West Bengal. This Federation:

• helps its members to identify actions to augment income from agri-horticultural production
• provides all kinds of agricultural inputs and technology services to the farmers for ensuring quality
• gives market services like proper harvesting technology, packaging, and market linkage of farm product as well as services like life insurance
• promotes a savings credit programme amongst the members

The members of PANSI are mainly tribal women and marginal farmers. The region where they live is very poor and agriculture is the main source of income. Most farmers encounter many difficulties, such as lack

of water and irrigation techniques. The social impact

of PANSI is:

• community involvement
• improving quality of life
• transfer of knowledge and skills
• local employment and/or income generation

Business case

PRADAN and PANSI asked SharePeople for advice regarding the business planning and modeling of the federation. PANSI would be a case-study, and based upon this case-study the model should have potential to create a prototype for the entire region. This may then be scaled up by PRADAN teams and other actors. The expected results were:

• assistance with the preparation of the viable and feasible business plan to form a federation
• design of a template that is replicable and can be used by other PRADAN teams who face the same situation
• input on ideas about new opportunities for the federation

PRADAN and PANSI found a partner in a mixed team of professionals in the field of Management & Organisation from Delta Lloyd and VolkerWessels. These professionals worked as a team together with two professionals from PRADAN, Mr. Saroj Kumar Mahapatra and Mr. Dibyendu Chaudhuri.

Results

Analyse

To begin with, the team worked out a stakeholder analysis. For each of the identified stakeholders was determined what their influence and commitment is regarding the federation. Also, they did a SWOT Analysis, and made a model for the organisational structure. These analyses were based upon field visits and interaction with members of the federation and Self Help Groups, with stakeholders and with PRADAN teams.

Advice

In the end, the team proposed a model for the organisational structure of the federation. Also, they advised regarding the services which the federation could render in order to add value for its members, such as:

• banking activities
• micro insurance
• buy-ins (on scale)
• accounting services
• education

Furthermore, they defined initial advices regarding the financial sustainability of the federation. Finally future steps for PRADAN and the federation were discussed with a broad team of PRADAN professionals and other stakeholders. Important future steps include:

• further analysis of the financial feasibility of the federation
• awareness creation amongst the member groups concerning the benefits of the federation
• selection and training of staff
• defining a strategy for PRADAN to withdraw after some time in order for the federation to become independent

Impact on the partners

The professionals from PRADAN were very pleased with the advice of the Dutch professionals:

‘The Dutch professionals helped us to learn certain conceptual frameworks, which we will continue to implement within our work. At the same time we learned some very important work ethics for example planning beforehand. As a value we learned to be more direct, which helps in quick decision making' (Saroj Kumar Mahapatra and Dibyendu Chaudhuri, PRADAN)

The Dutch participants described the programme as an unforgettable intercultural experience and they very much enjoyed working with their Indian team members and the way they were received by the rural communities. However, the opportunities for their own professional development were not fully explored. The small size of the group limited the exchange of knowledge, experiences and skills between the group members.

Follow up

As a follow up of this programme, Dibyendu and Saroj participated in the SharePeople Experience Week in the Netherlands, end of June 2009. During this week they had to chance to further work on their skills and knowledge and broaden their network. Also, they exchanged ideas with other SharePeople partners from Asia and Africa.

Furthermore, PRADAN and PANSI are giving follow up to the recommendations of the team. One of the things that is still needed is a more thorough analysis of the financial sustainability of the federation model. Therefore they will propose a new business case to SharePeople and SharePeople will link them with a professional with a financial background.