Two Cousins Want to Empower Indian Farmers

ABHISHEK AND GAURAV SHARMA, STUDENTS AT MISB BOCCONI, WANT TO REPLACE MIDDLEMEN WITH TECHNOLOGY

Two MISB Bocconi students want to shed a ray of empowerment over Indian farmers. Their goal is to free local agriculture from longstanding problems such as indebtedness, lack of education, and wastage. They want to connect farmers and retailers through a mobile app. They want wheat grains to be moved in closed tanker trucks rather than the jute sacks that are used today. And an on-board tutor will educate farmers about best practices and governmental policies. That’s why their project is called Sashaktikiran, which means “ray of empowerment”. They want to increase farmers’ share in the value chain, educate them, and make agriculture more sustainable. Last February, the Barilla Good4 jury awarded them with the first prize in the “Good4 our Planet” category. Now their project will be tutored at Speed MI Up.
 
The inspiration came to Abhishek Sharma and his cousin Gaurav Sharma working in the family business where they saw the dramas that farmers go through. “They cannot leave because they’re poor and uneducated, which leaves them hardly any option”. The suicide rate amongst Indian farmers who kill themselves because of poverty and debt is a serious issue. “Close to 210 million farmers in our Country earn less than 0,3 euro per day. They’re forced to take loans from private parties and pay high interest rates while getting a very small part of the crop they produce. They’re trapped in a vicious circle”. This problem is worsened by the lack of information. “Almost 50% of the families of the suicidal farmers never get the benefits of the government policies because they aren’t aware of them. Not to mention that almost 45% of the produce gets wasted before it reaches the end consumers because of poor storage and bad transport facilities”.
 
The solution? The Sharmas propose to use the mobile penetration of 70% in India to eliminate a number of components of the value chain (traders, agents and wholesalers who take 30% of the total value) and give farmers training and maximum value. An app will help them to identify the best practice for their kind of soil and to place orders in advance. Closed tankers will reduce wastage and education about Government policies will contribute to eradicate the social evils that are still prevalent in rural India. The project will start at a specific location and then take it from there. Now, the cousins will have to face the infamous Indian bureaucracy, will cooperate with local leaders to convince farmers to trust them, and hopefully earn some financial support.
 
Abhishek and Gaurav Sharma, both 25, are from Delhi. The former is a Mechanical Engineer, the latter an Electronics and Communication Engineer. They’re now pursuing their Post Graduate Program in Business at MISB, the Mumbai International School of Business opened by SDA Bocconi in 2012. “It’s two-year equivalent to a master’s course. We are taught by top professors coming down from Milan to our campus. It’s a powerful mix of good quality education with hands-on experiences such as internships and corporate connections. MISB gave us the tools to perform in the real world”.

by Claudio Todesco