The government of Andhra Pradesh and Mastercard introduced e-Rythu, (‘e-farmer’ in Telugu), a mobile platform to help farmers buy, sell and receive payments for their produce. The digital platform aims to make payments safer and simpler for farmers, buyers as well as stakeholders.
The vision behind the platform is to help the farmers connect with the right buyer and provide them with ‘an easy and secure way to buy, sell and receive payments for agricultural products via their feature phones’, a statement from Mastercard read.
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Several farmers in Andhra suffer income losses because of the long travel distance from where they sell the produce. Also, the lack of a formal credit history prevents them from accessing any financial aids from banks or other institutions.
Announcing e-Rythu, a mobile platform that will enable millions of farmers in AP to connect with buyers and sell produce through #DigitalPayments. https://t.co/Q7GIZrzxqu #MastercardForIndia @AndhraPradeshCM @MastercardNews @CNTR4growth #DigitalIndia
— Mastercard India (@mastercardindia) September 12, 2018
With this platform, farmers can discover the best prices and get in touch with buyers in their local language. The platform will also help the farmers to receive digital payments for the sale.
The platform also creates a digital transaction history, which allows farmers to receive formal credit from banks and other financial institutions, Mastercard website stated.
Porush Singh, division president, South Asia, Mastercard said,
“Mastercard is glad to extend partnership with the Government of Andhra Pradesh to introduce e-Rythu, a digital solution that will help farmers deal with the challenges of receiving optimum price for their produce and gaining access to the marketplace. At Mastercard, we are confident that the use of digital solutions can potentially transform the lives of millions of farmers in India by providing them financial access, transparency and inclusion.”
The project will kick off with one large buyer, Lawrencedale Agro Processing India Ltd (LEAF) and four FPOs, namely LEAF Lambasinghi Horticulture Farmers Producers Co-operative Society Limited, Visakhapatnam, Chicacole Coconut Farmers Producer Company, Srikakulam, Giri Chaitanya Farming and Marketing Mutually Aided Cooperative Society Ltd, Visakhapatnam and Andhra Kashmir Farmers Producer Organization (Grijana Vikas Foundation), Visakhapatnam.
