Nava Jyoti: Farmer’s Pursuit of Profitable Sales

Abstract

Small and marginal farmers in India face several difficulties in selling produce due to their scale of production and related transaction costs. Aggregation of produce under the aegis of a producer organization is seen as a possible solution for improving market access. This case is about Nava Jyoti, a producer organization based in Odisha, India. Nava Jyoti received support from several institutions in the form of grants, soft loans and managerial handholding at the time of its inception. However, after a few years Nava Jyoti had incurred losses due to several internal and external factors affecting its sales operations. Building profitable sales operations was the key for farmers to stand on their own feet since grants and other institutional support would not flow indefinitely. The time had come to review the sales operations and take corrective steps, finding an optimal route to market strategy was the envisaged outcome of the review process. Solutions had to be relevant to the context and capabilities of Nava Jyoti’s members — small and marginal farmers in one of the poorest regions of the country.