Samriddhii ( A joint venture of KAUSHALYA Foundation, the social wing and KNIDS GREEN Pvt Ltd, The Commercial wing) have been working towards professionalizing and creating a formal supply chain network of vegetables by connecting the Small, Marginal & Landless (SMAL) farmers and under-privileged street vendors to the mainstream markets with the objective to provide platform and support to these people (growers & vendors) in the evolving economy and to prepare them for the new market challenges.
We have established a formal system whereby SMAL growers and vendors are being mobilized into groups and clusters. An inclusive model is created under which farmers are getting input and advisory services, Infrastructure support for cultivation, post harvesting care management facilities, Time to time training on different aspect of vegetable production and assured and fair market for their produces at farm gate level. These vegetables procured from farmers cluster (Samriddhii Gramin Kendra) are brought to Modern Processing Center where it is processed (Processing includes sorting, grading, Packaging, barcoding) and sold in market through different retail chain mostly run by marginal vegetable vendors.
Hence these two ends of vegetable value chain are an inclusive part of Samriddhii model now living a much improved life with dignity and better income.And customer are getting fresh and hyiginic vegetables at their peripheral and even at door step at reasonable prices.

Problem

In Bihar and most of the part of India, mostly Small, Marginal and Landless (SMAL) farmers do vegetable cultivation. Almost 100% of fresh vegetable is distributed through informal trade channel. The spread of vegetable cultivation in rural areas and its marketing through informal trade channel has challenges particularly of transport, handling, packing and storage. 95% of Rs. 14.4 billion vegetable sector are unorganized. The stakeholders of two far end i.e. vegetable growers and vegetable vendors have been doing hard work for ages. Most of them work for more than 16 hrs a day without getting proper remuneration.Moreover the wastage at farmers and vendors ends account for more than 50% of the value chain. At times, prices have been fixed higher just to compensate for the wastage and spoilage. These SMAL farmers do vegetable cultivation using traditional method in want of information and due to small land holding and receives mere 20-30% of the consumer rupees as they are compelled to sell produces in the local market in want of volume and other modern facilities. Similar condition is applicable for the street vendors who shares the hardship of life instead of putting their whole day in procuring vegetable, sorting , grading , transporting through heavy push carts or on their head, and selling until they can. But instead of bearing the high risk and putting the uphill struggle they do not earn enough to live happily and are considered as unwanted part of society.

Solution

Our idea takes the available technology and management practices to the grassroot level. It increases the shelf life of product while decreasing the drudgery of stakeholders life. In our model where at one hand farmers are getting benefit of being commulative and vegetable vendors no longer required to work for 12-16 hrs a day. Vegetable farmer does not carry a load of 40-60 km on their head for a distance of 2-8 km everyday. The selling process completes in a 10-20 minutes in their village itself. They get selling options at farm gate with fair prices The model helps a lot in saving the time and money both for farmers and vendors. The samriddhii has first time given farmers an identity and they even get the institutional benifit along with better farming techniqes and farm gate market. Grading, Packaging and branding of vegetables are being done for the first time and by doing so a market has been created for leftover and unsold vegetable reducing the wastage percentage drastically. Samriddhii has leveraged technoly and has developed modern AC vegetable vending cart with the ability to keep vegetable fresh for 2-3 days, light weight and with high carrying capacity which has reduced the vendors working time and has increased the income efficiently .Moreover SOP for handling of each vegetable has been created by illiterate processing woman.Also for the illiterate ladies the employment opportunities has been created which were not available in the market till now.

Example

In order to professionalize the informal and fragmented vegetable supply chain Samriddhii has developed very unique and effective strategies. The steps include::: [1]SENSITIZATION PROGRAM ON THE VALUE OF COLLECTIVE ACTION - The sensitization programme is an intensive effort to inform and introduce the vendors and producers on the intervention, project scenarios, value of collective action and working under a business model ; [2]ORGANISING MEMBERS INTO GROUPS -Through a participatory process, groups (producer and marketing) are encouraged to develop an agenda for the meetings, are initiated in developing micro-plans and encouraged to save to develop their equity in the program ; [3]ENHANCING PRODUCTIVITY, MARKETABILITY AND VALUE ADDITION - To demonstrate value of intervention, a first effort is to enhance productivity at and marketability– both in terms of economic value and volume. This is being done through first level value addition, introduction of efficient technology, making processes more efficient, infusion of finance etc ; [5]ESTABLISHING THE SUPPLY CHAIN NETWORK -Supply chain network has been established to facilitate primary producers to link up with both input suppliers as well as with the market and government programs/extension agencies. The supply chain is made more efficient through professional set up ; [6]DEVELOPING CREATIVE MARKETING STRATEGIES -A creative marketing strategy is the key to the success of the approach. Vegetables vendors are given modern AC Samriddhii Cart to sell vegetable and are assigned a new role of sales and marketing executives, process executives. Other channels of sales and marketing has also become success because of its innovative and customer friendly characteristics . [....] Samriddhii model is touching the life by making visible changes in them.It has trasformed the lives of many farmers vendors and illiterate men and women who were not able to get a dignified job in society.Mr. Gulabchand is a progressive farmer of Samriddhii who had a similar story earliear.He was a small scale farmer with small plot of land, doing farming by traditional method and living with the struggle to sell his vegetables to get the right price. He used to take the big lot of vegetable on his head and used to go to market for selling the vegetable for right price or used to be forced to sell in local market price at nominal price.But today he is Samriddhii progressive farmer leading transaction of his and two other groups of farmer with Samriddhii getting right price at doorstep. Moreover today Gulabchand has got training on modern techniques of farming which he implies in his farm and low cost Bamboo Polyhouse made by Samriddhii. Now he has an identity in society and has got the financial stability which has enabledhim to send his childeren to send to private school and possessing a private company health insurance. Similarly road side venor Meena devi used to wake up in the morning at 4 to go to market after spending half day she somehow used to bring vegetable lot on her head to her home then she used to go to home to do a primary level sorting and grading and in the afternoon she used to go to market for selling her vegetable taking the lot on head where she used to sit untill she sold all or at most she could stay.Despite no surity was there that all her vegetable would be sold and moreover she was the one to bear the lossess/wastage in vegetable during transportation and selling process.Life was difficult as she could not get time for her family and herself and not even enough income to earn twotimes bread and butter. She was called as 'sabjiwali' a regardless word in society.This is the story of maximum of the vegetable vendors but today Meena devi is an employee of Samriddhii selling vegetables but in a much refined way.Her working time has been reduced to 6-7 hours from 12-14 hours.She is now getting a sured monthly income which is 1.8 times more then her earlier income.And she now takes care of family and sends her children school rather accompanying them for sorting, grading and selling of vegetables. If you ask her she will say with smile "Now people call me madam not sabjiwali"

Marketplace

Samriddhii is the first mover in the concept of packaged and branded vegetable in market with backend and fronted linkage at one plateform . And the success of this model because of its easy replicability with bit of localization has induced new players at their own geographical areas which includes state governments and local players which has adopted the Samriddhii model to an extent after NHM (National Horticulture Mission) has recommended Samriddhii model to all states . But only the Samriddhii model being unique in nature has succeeded to provide a holistic solution to SMAL farmers, Vegetable vendors and customers.Furthermore planning is there to pass the benefits to more beneficiaries in the coming future in its origin work place Bihar as well as to other states like UP, Maharastra and Jharkhand. Being inclusive in nature and focused on the social objective there is no other direct competitor presence in the market though indirect competitors list includes Reliance Fresh,Nature Fresh, Big Bazar, Namdhari Fresh, More, Big Apple, Spencers who are involved in the selling of vegetables through retail chains.