Good days of the country will come from cooperatives

An e-dialogue on ‘Role of Cooperatives in strengthening Rural Economy’ was organized by Ubantu Foundation in collaboration with National Cooperative Union of India on the eve of the International Day on Cooperatives today.

The program was chaired by Dr. Sudhir Mahajan, Chief Executive, NCUI and many renowned experts from across India presented their views. Welcoming the speakers and delegates, Sumit Singh, Director of Ubantu Foundation and Convener of the program gave an introductory lecture and outlined the structure of programme.

Sajith Sukumaran, Chief Operating Officer of Kudumbashree program in government of Kerala explained the women centric initiatives taken under the scheme in close coordination with local bodies and how it has helped to empower women from underprivileged sections of society.

Dr. Ranjit Kumar, Head-Agribusiness department of National Agricultural Research Management, Hyderabad highlighted the need for capacity building measures at all levels of Cooperatives and making the farming business profitable in sustainable manner.

He also mentioned in detail about his organisation is working with various state governments, cooperatives and farmer associations across India to build their capacities through knowledge sharing and dissemination of new technologies.

Dr. Ramanjaneyulu, Executive Director, Centre for Sustainable Agriculture explained the natural farming initiative supported by Government of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana to support both economy and ecology. His organisation is currently working in both states and thousands of farmers have now switched over to natural farming.

Hemant Chavan Ji, a close associate of Padma Shri Subhash Palekar and a natural farming expert from Nagpur talked about how ‘Nagpur Naturals’ model has been successful in development of farmer associations and providing a market to their produce locally.

Buoyed by the success of the Nagpur model, farmers in ten other districts have adopted it and they are able to sell organic products at local level. This has become an excellent example of how farmers in Vidarbha region can get rid of debt trap and earn their livelihoods in sustainable manner.

Gopi Sankara from Navadarshanam Trust in Bangalore talked about how they have been able to empower local farmers by building market linkages for their organic products. He also mentioned that there is a need to ensure stability in farmer income and also spread awareness about the benefits of organic products to people.

Sarvanan from Barefoot Academy of Governance, Tamilnadu highlighted the problems of farmers and stressed on the need to build trust among the stakeholders for reviving agriculture sector.

Sameer Sisodia, CEO of Rainmatter Foundation, Bangalore said that his Foundation is supporting various social initiatives across India working in the field of ecology and afforestation. He suggested that the success stories discussed during the program from across India should be documented well for potential replication by other organisations.

Rupesh Rai, Founder, Green People community in Uttarakhand explained his village centric economic model through eco-tourism and natural farming. His innovative approach of goat village has helped farmers in himalayan region and youth from those villages have got an option to earn their livelihood in thr village.

V Swaminathan from Tamilnadu spoke about the initiative of Organic Farmer Association of India to support cotton farmers and promoting cultivation of indigenous seeds.
Ms. Talu Devi, Founder, Meira Foods, Imphal shared her story about her all women enterprise and how they are supporting women from across Manipur through food processing business.

In his address as Chairperson of the program, Dr. Sudhir Mahajan Ji congratulated Ubantu Foundation for organizing such a fruitful interaction with experts and professionals working with farmers and cooperatives and thanked all speakers for their valuable inputs and suggestions.

He also stressed on the need to adopt innovative measures to support farming community and assured the audience that NCUI will take all possible measures to build linkages with progressive organizations and entrepreneurs for a better future.

Sumit Singh, Convener of the program thanked the Chairperson, speakers, research scholars, social workers and all other delegates for their active participation. He also said that Ubantu Foundation will organize thematic workshops on various issues related to environment, cooperatives and governance in future.