Engendering FPOs Webinar Notes

Speakers: Anita Paul, Director - Pan Himalyan Grassroots Development Foundation; Shilpa Vasavada - Gender and Livelihoods Professionals

• 80% of economically active women are in agriculture

• 73.2% rural female workforce is in agri compared to 55% of male

• 3% are women FPCs (Azim Premji university study in 2019)

So, need for equal opportunities and also different strategies for male and female farmers due to their different experiences

• Women mostly involved in production, but not as much in inputs and markets - if the same is replicated in FPOs then women are likely to lose out

• Also technology is coming in a lot of production activities sidelining women there as well

There is a business case for women in FPOs as well as they invest more savings than men, and typically have better rates of paying back credits and loans, NRLMs experience shows good financial management by women.

What can we do to engender FPOs?

• Do diagnostic/baseline studies

• Community mobilization and engagement to be engendered too

• Capacity Building: More exposure visits; special training for women BoD members; exclusive training for women FPO members

• Reporting and Data collection: fuctioning of FPO, indicators for formation and handholding support, women as shareholders and governance in KPIs, gender segregated data with evaluation based on it

Good practices from mixed FPOs

• Awareness programs to reach more women farmers

• Women local resource person for mobilizing women farmers

• Women as procurement leaders

• Extra capacity building for women members

• Taking demand on agri inputs from women members