Cooperatives and Producer Companies

By Trilochan Sastry | Indian Institute of Management Bangalore

Learners enrolled: 1001

This course is about cooperatives also known as Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs). It discusses what a cooperative is, how it helps small producers, and most important, how to set up sustainable, profitable and vibrant FPOs. It is based on empirical evidence from the field. It also discusses the basic principles of the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA).
No Exam and No Certificate for this Swayam course.

Summary

Course Status :	Completed
Course Type :	Elective
Duration :	4 weeks
Category :	Management Studies
Level :	Postgraduate
Start Date :	31 Jan 2021
End Date :	30 Apr 2021
Enrollment Ends :	28 Feb 2021
Exam Date :

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Course layout

Week 1:

• Overview

• Defining a Cooperative

• Cooperative Principles

• What is not a Cooperative?

• Cooperatives outside India

• Why do we need Cooperatives?

Week 2:

• Introduction to Forming Cooperatives

• Role of NGOs

• Challenges faced by NGOs

• Pool and Sell Model

• Quality Assessment

• Promoting Agency and the Cooperative

Week 3:

• Initial Operations for Promoting Cooperatives

• Financing a Cooperative

• Suggestions for a better functioning Cooperative

• Mistakes to be avoided for a better functioning Cooperative

• Marketing and Organizational Framework for a Cooperative

• Pool, Process, Store and Sell Model

• The Way Forward

Instructor bio

Trilochan Sastry

Indian Institute of Management Bangalore

Professor Trilochan Sastry, B. Tech IIT Delhi, MBA IIM Ahmedabad and PhD MIT, is a former Dean of IIMB and former Board member of IIMB, NABARD and currently on the Board of Nucleus Software Exports. He founded the Centre for Collective Development (www.ccd.ngo) and Farmveda (www.farmveda.in ), two social ventures that establish cooperatives and market branded food products. All profits go to farmers. CCD has been operational since 2004 and as of 2019 had organized over 25000 farmers with a focus on marketing and value addition. These Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) have grown and made profits since inception without any subsidy. The MOOCS Course is based on extensive field for 15 years, and from observation and participation in many other initiatives beyond CCD, and with Governments, Donor Agencies and International Agencies. It is also based on a course on Social Entrepreneurship taught at IIM Bangalore. He is also the founder and Chairman of the Association for Democratic Reforms (www.adrindia.org ) which works on improving elections and politics in India in a non-partisan manner.