Hyderabad: A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between India’s Homegrown e-commerce marketplace, Flipkart, and the Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP), On Saturday at MCR HRD Institute.
The Rural Poverty Alleviation Program (SERP) has chosen to use online marketing to sell the grain gathered by FPVs and women’s organisations.
The MoU will enable market access for Farmer Producer Organizations (FPO) and Self-Help Groups (SGHs) in the state of Telangana. The MoU was exchanged by the Secretary of Rural Development, Govt. of Telangana, Sandeep Kumar Sultania and Vice President & Head of Grocery, Flipkart, Smrithi Ravichandran at MCR HRD- Dasarathi Auditorium.
Rural Development and Rural Water Supply Minister Errabelli Dayakar Rao along with director Corporate Affairs & Government relations-south India Flipkart, Neil Christopher Vice President & Head of Grocery, Flipkart, Smrithi Ravichandran.
The deal was officially signed in the presence of Panchayati Raj Minister Errabelli Dayakar Rao, SERP CEO Sandeep Kumar Sultania, and Flipkart Vice President Ravichandran.
Speaking on the occasion, Rural Development and Rural Water Supply Minister, Govt. of Telangana Errabelli Dayakar Rao, said “This first of its kind MoU signed in the country with a credible e-commerce giant such as Flipkart is another milestone contributing to the progress of Telangana. SHGs and women from Telangana will now be able to sell their products to a pan India consumer base for an improved livelihood and gaining more visibility.”
“There are 4,36,000 SHGs consisting of 46 lakh members in the state. We wish to support all of them, especially women, for whom we have a target to provide loans of 500 crores this year,” he added.
Vice President of Grocery, Flipkart, Smrithi Ravichandran, said, “Flipkart is dedicated to creating new avenues of progress for all its stakeholders. The MoU signed with SERP is another step towards our commitment to handhold farming communities and SHGs to ensure improved income and business opportunities with adequate knowledge, training, and market access.”
“This further promotes inclusivity with FPOs, SHGs, and entrepreneurs in India and Telangana. Our customers get an improved experience with direct access to quality products and fresh groceries from these FPOs in the region,” she said.
Flipkart is currently working with multiple Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), and small and marginal farmers across the country to build sustainable and scalable partnerships. It has trained over 10,000 farmers across the country, on product quality and food safety to enable market access and empower & prosper the farmer community in India
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