Shared Community Information Spaces

Indian Society for Agri-Business Professionals (ISAP)

F 316, M B Road, Lado Sarai, New Delhi – 110030

www.isapindia.org, email isap@vsnl.net

Management

ISAP is managed by experienced professionals in field of agribusiness and management.

The promoter organization of this project i.e. Indian Society for Agribusiness Professionals (ISAP) is registered as a Not-for-Profit Company under the Company’s Act 1956.

Mr. Gokul Patnaik, IAS(RETD) Chairman

Mr. Sunil Khairnar, BTech(Agri), PGDM(IIMA) Executive Director

Mr. R Santhanam, M Sc Chief Operating Officer

Mr. R. Lakshminarayan, M Sc(Ag), PGDM(IIMA) Managing Committee Member

Mr. Vikas Kardile, BTech(Agri), PGDM(IIMA) Managing Committee Member

Mr. Sudarshan Suryawanshi, M. Tech(IIT-KGP), Managing Committee Member

Advisory Board

Dr M S Swaminathan Chairman, MS Swaminathan Foundation

Prof Anil K. Gupta IIM Ahmedabad

Prof. Gopal Naik IIM Bangalore

Mr.Sopan Kanchan Chairman, Grape Growers Federation of India

Dr. S K Ranjhan Director, Hind Agro Industries Ltd.

Mr. N. S. Brar Executive Director Punjab Agro Ind.

Mr. Satbir Nijjer Managing Director, Nijjer Foods Limited

Mr. Abiram Seth Executive Director, Pepsico India

Mr. A.K. Gupta Additional M.D., NHB, GOI

Mr. P. Saksena Chief Director(F&V & CS), NCDC

Dr. TSR Murali Technology Director, Frito Lay India

I SAP ORGANOGRAM

Executive Director

Chief Operating Officer

Coordinator – Events

Regional Coordinators North, Central, West, South & N.East

Coordinator- Query Redress

Chapter Coordinators Currently about 83 are functioning at village, district levels in states, and Union territories namely: Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Punjab, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry, West Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, & North Eastern states.

Panel of experts(A) who deliver solutions to

specific projects as consultants

Farmer intending to use Agri-Knowledge (KRISHAK) (1) We have more than 100,000 farmers as members.

Chairman

Coordinator – HRD Services

Coordinator - P.R. & Communications

Board

ISAP Organogram

Farmer Problem Tree

LAND WATER FOREST TRIBAL COMMUNITY RESOURCEUTILISATION

High MortalityRate

Low Productivity

of Land

Lack of improved

agricultural practices

Soil erosion

Low water holding capacity

Denuded lands

Acidic soil

Inadequate Availability of

Water for Irrigation/Drinking

No maintenance of irrigation /

drinking water structures

Lack of proper utilisation of

water

Reduced availability of

forest produce

High runoff

Water Logging near the Canal

FuelwoodInaccessibility

Less vegetation

cover

Distress Migration

Poor Health

Gender Inequity

Unemployment

Low Land Holding

High Population

Density

Lack of Balance Nutrition

Health Problems like TB, malaria,Diarrhoea

Lack of HigherEducation

Low fertility of soilsLow lands water logged

Lack of Health & Sanitation

FacilitiesLack of

Medicare

Illiteracy

Belief on Superstition

Lack of Awareness Regarding

HealthPoor

Educational Facilities

Lack of Off-farm Activities

Lack of Alternate Income

Generation Options

Poor Infrastructure

Lack of Communication

Facilities(Remoteness)

Non availability market (access /

linkage)

Very Few/almost none People’s &

Govt. Institutions. in Area

PROBLEM TREE

Non availability of Water, Poverty, Lack of Informed Choices or Opportunities

Less protection of forest area

High Infant Mortality Rate

Contaminateddrinking water

Low Milk Yield of Livestock

Livestock mostly for Agricultural use and selling for meat

80% paddy cultivation Output levelOutput level

Outcome levelOutcome level

Impact levelImpact level

Farmer Needs

FARMER

I rrigation

Market I nf ormation

Credit

I nputsTechnology

Storage

MarketLinkage

MarketUnderstanding

Value Proposition1. There is no P2P organization, which is geared towards

consolidating knowledge in the agricultural sector in India, which enables inter connectivity and sharing that would unleash nation wide synergies.

2. The farming community is deprived of the expertise and excellence that exist in pockets across the country though there are multiple research institutions.

3. There is a need of an organization that will use the strengths of the current day Information and Communication Technologies to satisfy the needs of the farming community by providing information and knowledge through a volunteer network.

4. The proposed project of ISAP aims at developing such an organization.

Vision And Value Proposition

Expertise and excellence that exist in pockets across the country and overseas

The farming

community scattered

throughout the country

ISAP - forum to consolidate and Network across

farmer need satisfiers

Information Technology

Agri-clinics & entrepreneurs

Support organisations – Drishtee, N-logue, etc.

In-house management, consulting and dissemination

expertise

Private, govt., NGO initiatives

Enablers

Queries coming in

Solutions going out

1. Creation of a city/ center wise network of functional experts.

2. Enrollment of Agribusiness professionals as associates …… graduates, progressive farmers, manufacturers, service providers, buyers of agricultural products and services

3. Routing queries to appropriate experts for problem solving

4. Documentation of problem solving experiences on the network which will be the first place to query for the service seekers

Methodology

Classification:

The panel of experts are classified according to their area of specialization. The 46 areas have been finalized in consultation with the research institutes and include – crop specialization, agro climactic zone specialization, soil conservation, plant pathology, market linkages, veterinary services, irrigation expertise, etc

Methodology

Software:

A software system has been developed to handle experts and users database, query submission, query routing, query solution submission, solution delivery, solution data-basing, database querying, expert search, user search.

Methodology

(1) Agri-Expert

(2) Disseminator of Agri-knowledge

(3) Agri-Knowledge Volunteer

(4) Partner Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs)

(5) Farmer intending to use the Agri-Knowledge

(6) Industrial User of the Agri-Knowledge

Methodology: Categories of members

(7) Partner Research Organizations

(8) Agri Journalist who writes exclusively/extensively on Agricultural issues

(9) Village Institution Leader who is engaged in agricultural and rural development activity at the village level

Methodology

University and research institutions knowledge bank

Individual Experts involved in specific areas

Corporate knowledge and farmers FAQ

University and farmers’ past interactions

Other sources of best practices

Sea

rcha

ble

and

inte

llig

ent q

ue

ry

ba

sed

da

tab

ase

Govt. Extension service

providers

Private Sector extension service

providers

Rural internet Kiosk operators

Dig

itiza

tion a

nd

oth

er I

CT

me

dia

frie

nd

ly fo

rms

Others

Digitized sources of best practices and market intelligence

Market intelligence service providers

FARM

ING

CO

MM

UN

ITY –

Larg

e, s

ma

ll a

nd

ma

rgin

al

Print and broadcast content providers

Cooperatives

NGOs

The knowledge Network

The Focus Areas Of Isap Work

ISAP is focussed on the following activities:

Group Formation

Capacity Building/Training

Workshops/Seminars  Advocacy

FDI in RetailChanges in APMC Act

Information dissemination    Technology transfer & absorption

Partner InitiativesType of Initiative Initiatives Key features

1. Rural connectivity and allied services

2. NGOs and civil society

3. Information services

5. Agri input/output corporates

Drishtee

4. Multiple rural services

Agriwatch

Tarahaat

Chambal Fertilisers Ltd

Technology back-end, services in collaboration with other categories

Market Linkages, Value addition, Knowledge disseminatio, community mobilisation and training

Dynamic data such as prices, commodity trends, weather, etc.

Problem solving, expert services, advisory services, technical information services

Problem solving, expert services, advisory services, technical information services

JBIC,OXFAM, BAIF, SDC

 

*Information Centres(83): Most of the chapter co-ordinators serve as information centres for the local community and are run by businessmen, individuals as well as NGOs.

**Farmers(1,25,000): Besides the regular sign ups that we have with farmers through our chapters, the OXFAM project where we worked with 18 partner organisations in 9 states saw us sign up around 100,000 farmers as ISAP members.

***No of markets covered(287): We are sourcing information on 31 markets from NHB, 200 Markets from DMI, Government of India and 56 markets from Agriwatch.

****No of experts: More than 10,000 professionals have signed up as members of ISAP out of whom 70 percent can be categorised as experts in one of more of the 46 sub categories we have identified within the agriculture sector for expertise.

Highlights…………..

 

ISAP has been able to gather a team of experts to provide expert consulting services to large organisations.

·We are working with FAO on an assignment which involves mapping of meat value chain and exploring policy variables that will enhance livelihood security of goat farmers.

·We further plan to work with FAO and CALPI on informal milk markets in Orissa.

·ISAP is working with JBIC (Japan Bank for International Co-operation) on a project in Orissa which deals with irrigation and water distribution among small landowners.

·We have been awarded several contracts with Department of Science and Technology, GOI for projects pertaining to agriculture sector.

·We have completed a signature memorandum campaign funded by Oxfam and they have expressed satisfaction and are discussing several new consulting assignments.

Highlights…………..

 

We also had expert visitors(3 teams) from Winrock USA, to study our ICT based network and they have given us a plan of action to fine tune and improve ISAP’s knowledge delivery systems.

We are probably the largest Organisation of agricultural professionals anywhere in the world and we are planning a ten-fold increase in membership within the next several years to a figure of one lac experts. We already have more than 1 lac farmer members.

ISAP has been selected by Digital Partners, USA as one of the Most Promising Social Enterprises for their 2002 Award.

Highlights…………..

Query Redressal SystemQuery Redressal System

ISAP Expert panel of over 10000 expertsSubject specialists

Region specialists

Market specialists

Farmer’s QueriesDisease, growing, input, soil, markets

Company/NGO/Kiosks/Govt AgenciesIn-house specialists for product features and usage (own products)

Limited number of queries are answered, this way

Wide range of queries can be addressed

Large number of queries can be addressed

3000 queries have been raised and answered with Industry picking up the cost of this exercise.

Revenue Streams

FAQ database Management SystemFAQ database Management System

We are working towards digitising all the knowledge that could be made available to user SMEs/farmers in a digital format.

Purpose

Ready Reckoner for front line NGOs/Kioks/ Company field staff to be able to answer farmer queries

Form

Easy to use, menu driven software

Revenue Streams

Revenue Streams

Consulting/Research Projects

Evaluation of an existing/proposed developmental program- CAPART

Socio-economic impact analysis- FAO Project

Developing sustainable linkages in social projects- JBIC

Policy impact analysis and remedial steps- OXFAM

Risk Mitigation- ICICI/NCDEX

The Ultimate Outcomes Of Isap Work

The enabler and facilitator:

Farmers are able to market their products to appropriate purchasers at appropriate rates.

Farmers are able to easily access useful expert advice on crop management at a reasonable cost

Farmers get assistance in working capital and risk coverage

What are the lessons?

ISAP was built on an existing, albeit small, community (of the professionals) that desired and developed it by their own vision.

ISAP focused on supporting an existing community space (their own) that shared information and knowledge through participation. That is they focused on people and not technology.

ISAP supported the S/CIS through organizing, maintaining and enhancing it and making it visible to attract more agri-business professionals. They used appropriate ICT, a website and a discussion list, again using what was available and appropriate for their purpose.

What are the lessons?

Underneath this information space, there was ISAP as an organization and an institution that supported the S/CIS with appropriate policies and strategies that created credibility and trust.

ISAPs policies and strategies were clear and transparent and intended to create trust among all its members and sustainability of the Society.

ISAP has several interfaces with its members. It has face-to-face meetings seminars and workshops, and uses e-mail, discussion lists, SMS, telephony and its website to share information.

Source: Ajit Maru

Please visit us at www.isapindia.org

THANK YOU