It is simply amazing how conversations with people of varied life experiences can bring a completely different perspective to one's thoughts. Last year, during one such conversation with my dad, I was going gung-ho about technology's infinite possibilities and its enormous potential. My dad, who hails from an agricultural village, listened to me patiently till the end and said "I see. But tell me one thing. How has your technology improved the lives of our farmers?” I didn't have an answer at that time, so I promised to revert with some concrete examples. And my search ended the very next day, when a friend told me about ITC's e-Choupal initiative.

ITC is one of India's largest and oldest business conglomerates, with business interests in hotels, cigarettes and tobacco, consumer goods, agricultural trading etc. ITC's International Business Division (IBD) is involved in providing a supply chain for India’s agricultural produce, through exports or otherwise. When ITC made its foray into agribusiness, it realized that there were numerous constraints, such as innumerable intermediaries, poor infrastructure, lack of modern agricultural know-how etc, which plagued Indian agriculture. As a solution to all these problems, ITC launched the e-Choupal initiative.

Choupal in Hindi means a gathering place. Taking this gathering place to the virtual world, ITC introduced the e-Choupal initiative in the year 2000. This e-revolution of rural India began with the soybean farmers of the villages in Madhya Pradesh region but has since expanded to nearly 40,000 villages across India and serves nearly 4 million farmers today.

The modus operandi of e-Choupal is simple. ITC sets up kiosks in villages, which typically have a computer with an internet connection. One of the farmers in the village is trained to use the computer. He will be responsible for helping the other farmers in using the computer. Information about advanced farming techniques, market demands, weather forecast and current market prices of agricultural produce, can be obtained by the farmers through the kiosk. Access to an e-Choupal kiosk is free of cost. This information helps the farmers grow crops which will be in demand and also which suit the weather forecast of that particular year. It also helps them get a fair price for their produce, which wouldn’t have been possible otherwise due to intermediaries.

This initiative also creates a direct supply chain to ITC, which buys the agricultural produce directly from the farmers. ITC ensures a secure supply of produce to itself through this and also lowers its procurement costs by eliminating traders and intermediaries. ITC also uses the e-Choupal as a medium to advertise its consumer products where farmers can buy ITC’s products.

The e-Choupal initiative is a fantastic example of how technology can be used to create win-win situation for both the enterprise and the market. The initiative, which has transformed ordinary farmers into savvy marketers, has been featured in a World Resources Institute’s case study and C K Prahalad’s book, Fortune at the bottom of the pyramid: Eradicating poverty through profits. The initiative aims to reach 100,000 villages and 10 million farmers in the next few years. And also allows me to stay gung-ho about technology!