Evolving strategies for improving the performance of farmer producer companies through field studies

Farmer Producer Companies (FPCs) were spearheaded for the integration of resource-poor farmers with the market systems in India. However, 45% of the FPCs aged more than five years had become dormant in function. The present study was undertaken to identify, validate and prioritise the strategies which could facilitate the improved performance of FPCs and ensure their sustainability in the long run. The list of strategies was identified through focus group discussions along with personal and telephonic interviews with experts associated with FPCs, viz. FPC officials (CEO, BODs), farmers, promoting agencies, customers, and government officials. Later, it was administered as a semi-structured interview schedule to experts for validation and prioritization using the Garrett ranking technique. The prominent prioritized strategies were ‘Capacity building of BODS to manage FPC business activities on their own’, and ‘Designing a well-defined business plan for the FPC’ for the stakeholder category Promoting agencies/ CBBOs, ‘FPCs need to strive to build trust among the member farmers’,‘Increasing the active membership strength’ were prioritized under the FPC category. Subsequently, ‘Building adequate knowledge on advantages of business association with FPC’, and ‘Motivating members of an FPC to build their own capacities such as financial literacy’ were ranked first for the farmers category. Under the category of customers, ‘Showing readiness to participate in customer satisfaction surveys,’ and ‘Updating knowledge on FPC products by discussions with friends and family’ were ranked first. ‘Reorienting the policy focus from mere formation to sustained incubation of FPCs’ and ‘Establishing platforms for FPCs to engage in policy advocacy and representation at various levels’ could ensure the sustainability of FPCs in India.