1. Naman Gupta, ACT Team Leader Maharashtra, India
Climate Resilient Agriculture in Maharashtra: The Role of Farmer Producer Organisations and Financing Institutions
Naman Gupta, ACT Team Leader Maharashtra, India

2. Lets get to know Maharashtra!
Third largest state of India – 308,000 sq.km.
Second most populous state in India – >112 million
State economy – $259 billion
Agriculture and industries - largest contributors to state's economy.
82% of the state’s area is rainfed; dependent on monsoon or groundwater.
More than a third of the state’s area is classified as drought- prone.
Agriculture : 14.8 % of India’s GDP ( )
Source: Economic Survey of Maharashtra , Department of Economics and Statistics, Government of Maharashtra

3. Value chain development of climate resilient crops
Multi Criteria Analysis to rank key crops for climate resilience.
Value Chain Analysis of five crops (Chick pea, Pigeon pea, Soybean, Pearl Millet & Sorghum)
Assessment of 21 Farmer Producer Companies (FPCs) in 4 districts (socio-economically backward, salinity prone & drought prone)
Identified barriers faced by FPCs
Recommendations for strengthening FPCs
‘Risk rating tool’ to integrate climate & gender concerns in lending decisions
Capacity development

4. Findings: Constrains and Gaps Faced by Farmer Producer Companies (FPC)
Establishment
Difficulty in understanding the initial registration process
Some members are unable to give initial registration fees
Unaware of what has been written in the MOA and AOA
Governance
Weak governance: Most FPCs managed by 1-2 BoD members
Weak participation of women board members
Management
All the operations/management are in control of one person
Lack of awareness about management of a company
No guidelines for changing of directors
Infrastructure
Infrastructure and services limit the scale of business
Need loans to buy machines for processing
Markets located at a distance from the FPCs

5. Findings: Constrains and Gaps Faced by Farmer Producer Companies (FPC)
Finance
FPCs unable to give loans collateral; directors pledge own land
FPCs are unable to make good business plans
IFLs lack knowledge of FPCs’ business to design unique credit lines
Business
Business Plan is prepared in English by third party
Training required in preparation own bankable business plan
Few FPCs have weak business models
Climate Resilience
Training needed in growing CR crops
FPCs need to adopt CR technologies for crop production
FPCs need to adopt CR water management technologies

6. Recommendations IMMEDIATE ACTION, VERY HIGH IMPACT
Provide handholding support in early FPC stages
Improve accessible communication channels between FPCs & banks
Identify target groups and topics for immediate training
Implement pilot training programme
Provide WASH and other facilities at FPC offices
SHORT-TERM ACTION, HIGH IMPACT
Inculcate business planning skills
Establish better forward linkages
Generate awareness - CRA, Gender, Finacial products
Build capacity-improved access to finance
Train banks and IFL staff
Offer women-specific training
MEDIUM-TERM ACTION, MODERATE IMPACT
Incentivize CRA crops and CRA technology application
Integrate FPC development models
Enact GoM’s policy on women
Change the rules of entrance for women’s membership into FPCs
LONGER-TERM ACTIONS
Apply M4P approach at FPC level
Change household attitudes

7. FPC Rating Tool
FPC-centred, gender and capacity needs-focused and data driven assessment
Based on 8 parameters- Establishment, Governance, Management, Infrastructure, Finance, Business, Capacity Building and Climate Resilience.
Set of 40 specific indicators relevant to the eight parameters
Each main parameter carries specific weight in the order of importance
Carries maximum marks of 100 points that an FPC can score
Already applied for 600+ FPCs in Maharashtra

8. Applying the FPC rating tool
Step 1. Discussion with FPC Board and management to understand the purpose of establishing the FPCs, current state of business operations, targets, areas in which they are struggling and doing well in.
Step 2. Visits to FPC office and places where it has operations - to assist in understanding the growth in business practices, including infrastructure facilities pertaining to its business.
Step 3. Village visits and interaction with member farmers, especially women, small and marginal farmers- to triangulate the data and verify the same.
Step 4. Analysis of annual reports, business plans and financial statements- to ascertain FPC leadership claims on management and financial processes and help identify constraints if any.
Step 5. Visit to institutions who have provided technical and handholding support- to help identify FPCs’ strengths and weaknesses
Step 6. Participatory SWOT analysis - to ensure that the rating against each parameter should be commensurate with the SWOT analysis of each parameter.

9. Rating tool results (/100)

10. FPC Scoring: Dashboard

11. naman.gupta@actiononclimate.today
THANK YOU!