UNDP has selected Arya.ag and Friends of Women’s World Banking, India (FWWB India) as partners for implementing enterprise promotion and value chain interventions in agriculture and allied activities.
The partnership aims to create a cadre of community resource persons for mentoring and supporting entrepreneurs and promoting individual and group enterprises by December 2023. The blueprint of Project Excel includes building a team of sourcing managers to implement value chain interventions and establish market and credit linkages through collectivization. As part of this partnership, Arya.ag will build on farmers’ collectives to effectively manage the post-harvest process and develop the agriculture value chain of the producer group.
Arya.ag will provide its platform for the farmer collectives and FPOs to showcase their products on its marketplace. Farmers will benefit from the economies of scale and synergies provided by the company’s vast, integrated ecosystem of services, including quality inputs, commercial support, farm advisory and management tools, affordable credit, and capacity building. Through collectivization, they will help farmers in the villages establish market and credit linkages. FPOs, who have farmers as the shareholders, would leverage economies of scale, reducing production costs and enhancing farmers’ incomes. Arya.ag’s dedicated agritech initiatives solve traceability and transparency issues and give quality assurance for seamless commodity commerce.
FWWB India will focus on the development of entrepreneurship among villagers. It will support youth and women’s economic empowerment through setting up demand-driven micro and nano enterprises. This partnership is to create a conducive business environment with end-to-end solutions consisting of training and technical support, capital and market linkages, and skill enhancement support, empowering women and ensuring a sustainable income at the individual and collective level.
The overall aim of this project is to develop the potential of the rural and semi-urban communities and provide them with the opportunities to enhance their livelihoods in sectors like agriculture, dairy, poultry, handloom, goat rearing and handicraft, etc. The project will also help build their managerial capabilities and provide stronger market linkages.
Arya.ag and FWWB India will work extensively to strengthen agri value chain and build an entrepreneurship ecosystem. They will enable deeper engagements with knowledge partners that positively impact the livelihoods of millions of small farmers and women from the under-served communities of Dwarka Devbhumi and increase their income.
UNDP has worked in India since 1951 in almost all areas of human development, from systems strengthening to inclusive growth and sustainable livelihoods and sustainable energy, environment, and resilience. UNDP’s programmes continue to integrate a global vision for catalytic change with India’s national priorities. Today, with over 30 projects on the ground in almost every state, it works to achieve Sustainable Development Goals by transforming traditional models to do development differently.
