Services and Content
5.9. Case Study: e-Choupal—Empowering Farmers in India(14)
e-Choupal is an interesting example of very specific services provided to farmers by ITC, one of India’s leading companies, which overcome constraints of the mandi system of intermediaries.
Local Context—Rural Environments and Farmers
Agriculture is the primary—if not the only—source of livelihood for 72 percent of India’s population, who live in more than 600,000 villages. In spite of the progress brought about by the Green Revolution of the 1960s and ‘70s, most farmers have remained poor. Most of them are small farmers who lack bargaining power when buying farm inputs and selling their produce. Most of them also lack access to real-time information about prices, weather, or other news critical to their agricultural activities.
Organizational Model—Social Responsibility and Corporate Profits
Conducting business in rural India is difficult¾transportation, electric power, and information infrastructures are inadequate; business practices are underdeveloped or outdated; and the lack of access to modern resources has resulted in a poorly trained workforce. These constraints have discouraged many companies from taking on the challenge of rural business development. Yet ITC has done just that, creating synergies between its business plans and community development programs. In addition, ITC’s Agri-Business is one of India’s leading exporters of agricultural products.
Through the e-Choupal initiative, ITC has managed to increase its own competitiveness and to empower farmers through access to technologyand the Internet.
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