Anantapur district in western Andhra Pradesh can easily be mistaken for a desert region. It is devoid of any sandy stretches or camels, but every nook and corner of this place is in absolute in need for water. Anantapur is probably the only district in the state that is constantly declared drought-hit by subsequent state governments year after year. And while lack of industries and development has forced people to move to Bangalore and Hyderabad, the local farmers continue their fight in the villages.
Around 4000 farmers, whose livelihood have been meagre, have decided to take the next big step of their lives by turning entrepreneurs. Supported by local activists, ICRISAT, Walmart Foundation and Accion Fraterna Ecology Centre (AFEC), these farmers will actively engage in commercial production in a secondary processing unit to greatly add value to their produce. Run by the farmers under the name, Rythu Nestham Farmer Producer Company, the unit will come up in Kuderu Mandal and will be operational in six months.
The farmers who will be part of the project are from eight mandals of Anantapur district. These farmers have been cultivating groundnut, sorghum, millets, pigeon pea and chickpeas for decades. There are four primary processing units where the first level of processing takes place like cleaning, sorting, grading and packing. The farmers have been working at the unit when it is an off-season for them.
In the secondary unit, the farmers help prepare and pack several ready-to-eat snacks like chikki, cookies, cake and bread. They will also produce ready-to-cook products made from multi-grain and jowar. All these edible goods will be made using groundnut, millets, pigeon pea and chickpea.
According to T. Murali of AFEC, which is helping the farmers, the earnings of farmers are expected to increase by 40% once the unit is operational. He informed that 2000 more farmers are expected to enrol themselves in the project taking the total number to 6000.
For now, the products will be available in the local market.
