Flipkart, India's homegrown e-commerce marketplace, on Saturday said it signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP), Telangana   to enable market access for Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) and Self-Help Groups (SHGs) in the state.

The MoU was exchanged between Sandeep Kumar Sultania, Secretary,  Panchayat Raj & Rural Development, Telangana and  Smrithi Ravichandran, Vice President and Head of Grocery, Flipkart, at an event held here, a press release from the e-commerce giant said.

Through this partnership, Flipkart aims to empower local farming communities and SHGs of Telangana by providing pan-India market access to more than 400 million customers on its platform. As part of this collaboration, Flipkart will directly source premium quality pulses, millets, staples, and spices from the local farmers, contributing to improve income and business growth. Flipkart will further engage with these communities through virtual and on-ground training and capacity-building initiatives to provide them with an understanding of quality, pricing, and licenses required to be a part of FPO ecosystem.

SERP will extend support with infrastructure and necessary approvals to take this partnership forward. Speaking on the occasion,  Errabelli Dayakar Rao, Panchayat Raj, Rural Development and Rural Water Supply Minister said, SHGs and women from Telangana will now be able to sell their products to a pan India consumer base for an improved livelihood and gaining more visibility.

"There are 4,36,000 SHGs consisting of 46 lakh members in the state. We wish to support all of them, especially women, for whom we have a target to provide loans of Rs 500 crore this year. We believe that SHGs will work hard and use these initiatives to accelerate their development and to grow their businesses," Dayakar Rao said.

Smrithi Ravichandran said, "The MoU signed with SERP is another step towards our commitment to handhold farming communities and SHGs to ensure improved income and business opportunities with adequate knowledge, training, and market access."

Flipkart is currently working with multiple FPOs, small and marginal farmers across the country to build sustainable and scalable partnerships. It has trained over 10,000 farmers across the country, on product quality and food safety to enable market access and empower and prosper the farmer community in India, the release added.