Ease of Doing Business for MSMEs: Walmart Foundation, the charitable arm of the US retail giant, Walmart has announced a grant worth $2 million to Professional Assistance for Development Action (PRADAN), a non-government, non-profit organisation (NGO) to support the growth of women-led farmer producer organizations (FPOs) in the tribal regions of eastern states of the country.
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PRADAN that works towards rural development will get the grant for the implementation of the project PROWFIT (prowess of organized resources and women-farmers for transforming FPOs into independent institutions) that aims to support 60 women-led FPOs over a period of 30 months.
The project aims to enable 1,20,000 small and marginal women farmers to create sustainable business models who together are likely to have a total annual turnover of $32 million, said the company’s statement.
Through PROWFIT, PRADAN will offer assistance to the FPOs to develop business plans, create systems and processes within the organisation and implement governance systems.
Moreover, the FPOs will also be provided technology and financial support through access to service partners and linkages with relevant national or state government programmes. For instance, under the central government’s scheme, namely Formation and Promotion of 10,000 FPOs, 29 FPOs from the project will be able to benefit with access to improved technology, credit, better input, and market access for their produce.
According to the company’s statement, the grant for PROWFIT project came after the NGO’s successful two-year project LEAP (Livelihoods Enhancement through Market Access and Women Empowerment) that was supported by a $1.9 million grant from the Walmart Foundation. The LEAP project impacted the livelihoods of 45,000 smallholder women farmers across Jharkhand, Odisha, and West Bengal.
Julie Gehrki, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Walmart Foundation, said,“PRADAN projects like PROWFIT and LEAP align well with our efforts in India to strengthen FPOs by helping them increase volume, quality and sustainability of production, while building and deepening their connections to markets. The latest investment in PRADAN will expand reach to even more rural women, while also deepening impact through sustainable yield growth and through unlocking income sources.”
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The NGO PRADAN which is focused on poverty alleviation has contributed to government programmes such as Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP), Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY), and the National Rural Livelihood Mission.
