Gijs Spoor, Zameen Organic
The Mission: Providing organic cotton farmers with sustainable agricultural livelihood.
The Benefits: Farmers get a fair price for their produce. Adopt a healthy lifestyle.
Three people—Gijs Spoor, Edapalil Mathai Koshy and Satish Chukkapalli. Three different backgrounds—an agricultural engineer, a rural development expert and a garment-marketing honcho. But, bound together by one aim—providing Indian organic cotton farmers with a sustainable agricultural livelihood, a healthy lifestyle and a fair price for their produce. That’s the vision of Hyderabad-based Zameen Organic.
Founded in 2006, the Rs 6 crore for-profit organisation has taken sustainable livelihood to a different level. Zameen not only pays an ‘organic premium’ to its farmers in Asifabad, Andhra Pradesh, and Amravati, Maharashtra, for adopting its methods, but also pays a ‘social premium’ for community development.
Now, for some facts: for each quintal of cotton harvested, every Zameen farmer is richer by a few hundred rupees as compared to cotton farmers dependent on the government’s minimum support price. And, an organic farmer can earn three times as much as conventional cotton growers thanks to reduced input costs.
To ensure that its 6,000-odd farmers get a fair share in the company’s profits, 51% of the company’s stake is reserved for them. The farmers can buy back the company’s shares at par.
Today, most of these shares are held by Agricultural and Organic Farming Group (AOFG), a network of farmers’ associations and other grassroots organisations. AOFG not only monitors the practices of Zameen farmers, but also provides technical training in organic farming practices and fair-trade regulations.
So, how does Zameen manage to pay a premium to its farmers? The answer, says Satish Chukkapalli, Director, Zameen Organic, lies in targeting eco-friendly textile and garment retail players abroad. They don’t mind paying a bit extra—Rs 300 per quintal (about 10% more)—for pesticide- and chemical-free cotton, he says. This concept, fast gaining ground all over the world, is called ‘fair-trade agriculture’ and works on the principle of ‘trace and track’. Companies can trace the origins of the cotton used by them.
Fair-trade certification helps companies brand themselves as eco-friendly and also trade carbon credits. “By buying organic cotton from us, they can accumulate carbon credits. We provide them supporting documents,” says Chukkapalli.
This year, Zameen has a deal with Mumbai-based Alok Industries, one of the largest textile and garment exporters in India. In addition to selling its organic cotton to Alok, it will also help the company bag contracts abroad. “We will get a 5% commission if we swing a deal for Alok,” says Chukkapalli. Zameen, clearly, is breaking new ground.
Source: http://business.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?261414 (External Website) 