Lakhpati Kisan: Transforming Smallholder Farmers in India

Agriculture plays an essential role in the growth of developing economies, as agricultural production is key to food security and is closely intertwined with the livelihoods of many. This book explores the lives of smallholder agricultural farmers in India and the dire challenges that agricultural households face.

Focussing on the Lakhpati Farmers initiative, the book examines interventions made by the programme to economically empower farmers and accelerate income growth in the agriculture sector. The programme, initiated by the Collectives for Integrated Livelihood Initiatives (CInI) in the tribal belts of central Indian states, helped farmers earn over INR 100,000 (or one lakh - hence Lakhpati) per annum. The programme engaged with households in 12 districts across 4 states - Jharkhand, Odisha, Maharashtra, and Gujarat - to bring about change through economic empowerment and improve the quality of life of tribal communities. This book documents these initiatives and strategies to meet the aspirations of small and marginal farmers by understanding the ingredients, processes, and challenges involved. The book analyses the programme, examines case studies, and offers ways forward.

Part of the Innovations, Practice and the Future of Public Policy in India series, this volume will interest students and researchers of agriculture and rural development, business management, governance, public policy, development studies, and sociology.

This book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http: //www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

Anjal Prakash is the Clinical Associate Professor (Research) and Research Director at the Bharti Institute of Public Policy, Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad, India.

Ashwini Chhatre currently serves as the Executive Director of Bharti Institute of Public Policy at the Indian School of Business, India while serving on its faculty as an Associate Professor of Public Policy.

Ganesh Neelam is a development professional with an overall 23 years of experience. He currently is the Executive Director of CInI, which has designed and implemented the Lakhpati Kisan programme.

Sujit K Gopinathan currently works for Tata Trusts as the Regional Manager, Gujarat and also the state lead of CInI (Collectives for Integrated Livelihood Initiatives), programs across the tribal districts of Gujarat.

Apurva Duddu is a PhD student in Environmental Studies at Yale University, USA and has been actively engaged with projects with the Bharti Institute of Public Policy, Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad, India.