Equipping Farmer Producer Organizations to face competition

Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) and cooperatives face stiff competition and the lack of professional and qualified managers aggravates the situation. To help address these issues, a training was organized for the top management of FPOs.

The participants were chief executives and program coordinators of Producer Organization Promoting Institutions (POPIs), who in turn, will train the Board of Directors and CEOs of FPOs that they promote. To address the issue necessary technical and management skills were imparted to the participants.

The key learning of the participants were:

• Preparation of business plan and strategic plan
• Marketing, market strategies
• Registration process
• Legal permits
• Accounts and audit
• Financial management
• Institution building
• Meaning, purpose and features of FPO, member centrality
• Risk management

ICRISAT’s Agribusiness and Innovation Platform (AIP), the Resource Support Agency for the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) in Telangana, India, organized the training program. This is the second in the training series. AIP-ICRISAT is involved in designing the training programs, exposure visits, modules development, technical support to NABARD and POPIs on FPO promotion, contribution to FPO program design and implementation.

The training will enable POPI staff and managers to not only generate additional income and employment, but also strengthen the management of FPOs and cooperatives. It will also help create a better channel of communication between themselves and committee members on one hand, and with its members on the other. In doing so, managers will be able to create goodwill for the cooperative in the market and deliver high incomes for the members.

Mr Satyanarayana, Chief General Manager, NABARD, inaugurated the 5-day training program held from  4-8 January organized by the Agribusiness Incubator (ABI) program of AIP.