SFAC - Mission Statement
Indian agriculture today is essentially smallholder agriculture; as much as 83% of all cultivators are either marginal or small (which means that they till less than 2 hectares, or 5 acres, of land). The average landholding size has shrunk to 1.2 hectares. Yet across a range of parameters, from intensity of cultivation to per capita use of irrigation and fertilizer, small and marginal farmers are more productive and efficient than large landholders. The challenges that these small producers face can be summed up in three words:
- Investments
- Technology
- Markets
SFAC has set before itself the goal of addressing these three challenges in a meaningful and effective manner. It aims to work with a network of partners in the financial sector to find innovative solutions to the financing needs of small and marginal farmers, using the concept of pooled risk as the basis of its product experimentation.
Delivery of technology in agriculture today is possible across several platforms, including electronic and ICT channels. This in turn requires institutional anchoring within the farming community, as farmers themselves become the repository and messengers of new ideas and techniques. SFAC aims to proactively work towards the creation of member based farmer institutions for the rapid transmission of agriculture technology.
Agriculture marketing is the third area of focus for SFAC. Aggregating farm produce and its efficient passage through the value chain to consumers requires a grand coalition of partners, beginning with farmers and involving both public and private actors. SFAC commits itself to facilitating such coalitions across the country and spanning the agriculture product range, contributing with risk capital, knowledge generation and policy advocacy at the State and Central level.
Come join us in this exciting endeavour to unlock the huge potential of India's small producers. Explore this site for more information and write to us if you have a product, a service or even an idea on how we can work together to make things a little better for the small farmer.
