Organized Retail will help farmers

Check this news item from livemint which shows how organized retail can provide a paradigm shift for Indian fruit and vegetable farmers:-
http://www.livemint.com/2008/03/12014136/From-mandi-to-WalMart.html

DHAN Foundation

http://indiapost.com/article/communitypost/2130/

MoT to develop rural tourism Master Plan

The Ministry of Tourism (MoT) has come up with an initiative to develop a Master plan for promoting rural tourism in the country. Supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) India, the Master Plan will identify 125 rural sites, which will then be developed at an investment of Rs 50 lakh per site. Out of the 125 proposed sites, 15 have already been developed and are currently being marketed through the website, exploreruralindia.org. By December 2008, 36 sites are expected to be ready for operations.

Read the whole news item here.

Agriculture for Development : World Bank Report

Following are some pieces of information from the World Bank Report titled "Agriculture for Development" as put forward by the co-author Alain de Janvry:-

• The return on investment is 5-10 times more than the return on subsidies


• Growth originating in agriculture is two-three times more effective for the poor than growth originating in non-agriculture.


• One of the big changes in Indian agriculture is the rise in the number of small farmers as landholdings were being fragmented all the time

And here is the eight-point agenda to tackle these issues:-

1. Focus on taking farm labour out of agriculture and use agriculture for environmental conservation.


2. Concentrate on food security; reduce subsidies and redirect public expenditure towards investments and "protection of net-food consumers"; make sure the trade policies help reduce price instability.


3. Improve efficiency of value chains and increase value addition in agribusinesses.


4. Improve competitiveness of smallholders by giving them access to productive assets.


5. Address productivity constraints of subsistence farmers and assist them so that they can take risks.


6. Move excess farm labour to the rural non-farm economy while improving the quality of employment of farm labour through regulation.


7. Involve the private sector in the rural non-farm economy.


8. Make a massive investment in improving human capital of farm labour so that excess labour can move to other jobs.

Roads will lead to rural prosperity

"If I had money, I would use it to build roads. If I had more money, I would build more roads. If I had still more money, I would build still more roads." -- Robert Chambers.
Roads are the veins of a country. It is easy to overlook the contribution of Roads towards rural development. Perhaps it is because there are no direct results, although every other activity depends on it. And the other reason why politicians might not be willing to spend money on building roads is because this does not benefit the people directly (as subsities for agriculture/electricity do) and thus does not help in increasing their vote banks.
This article "Roads will lead to rural prosperity" suggest Roads as the most important driver for rural development, than any other thing (be it Education/Employment Generation Schemes/Subsidies). It also supports these with some research data. Following is an extract:-

For every million rupees spent, roads raised 335 people above the poverty line, and R&D 323. Every million rupees spent on education reduced poverty by 109 people, and on irrigation by 67 people. The lowest returns came from subsidies that are the most popular with politicians - subsidies on credit (42 people), power (27 people) and fertilisers (24 people).

It's good to notice that the article ends with writing that the Indian Government has understood this idea and there are visible changes. Notable are the following schemes in practice towards this goal:-
a. PMSY (Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana)
b. Bharat Nirman Project
c. NHAI (National Highways authority of India) involved in the construction of the Golden Quadrilateral.

Tourism: A means for Rural Development

Tourism is definitely a means for Rural Development. Religious and Eco Tourism are some areas which have good potential. Considering that the average disposable income for the people in many of the sectors particularly in the metropolitan areas has increased, this income can be pumped into the Rural Economy by the means of Tourism. This will generate new direct and indirect employment oppurtunities for the people in the Rural areas. For this either the Tourism ministry of the States and Center should take active participation. I am not sure, how much regulated is the Tourism sector, but otherwise even private organisations can also take it up. Promoting the Religious places or places of cultural heritage is one thing that certainly falls in the ambit of the Government. The serene and calm atmosphere of the villages is certainly a nice way to relax. But there might be other creative ideas for people ready to explore.

This article for the potential of Tourism throws some light:-
http://www.centralchronicle.com/20080116/1601301.htm

Though the article focuses on improving Tourism in India for increasing the no. of international tourists coming to India, the same can be applied to Rural Areas.

Setting up a BPO in Rural Areas

I had a long time back heard of some BPO operations in Rural areas of Kerala. Today I came across this news item of Tata Chemicals Society for Rural Development (TCSRD) inaugrating it's BPO operations called Uday at it's Mithapur plant in Gujarat. This is one good means of generating employment in the rural areas and bridging the Digital Divide. This is a Win-Win situation for the Owners of the operations and the Rural Society. The advantages of the operations are obvious:-

• Labour at low cost
• Low attrition rate
• Low operating costs

But the key is the availability of infrastructure. If the Govt. or some other private organizations take up the task of setting up infrastructure many such business can flourish.

Bill Gates gives $27 million to Denver nonprofit

Bill Gates gives $27 million to Denver nonprofit and the good part is that all the money will be used for providing irrigation systems for farmers in India.
Read the news item here.