Impacting Over 6 Million Farmers, Chennai-based Samunnati Is Combining Agriculture And Technology

Agriculture continues to employ over 50 percent of the total Indian population and contributes almost 20 percent to the country's gross domestic product (GDP). However, at many ends, small farmers, which comprise a majority share in the agricultural industry, often lack the digital knowledge and expertise to be able to extract most out of their produce. Therefore, Samunnati, a Chennai-based startup is on a mission to build forms an open agri-network to unlock the trillion-dollar-plus potential of Indian agriculture with smallholder farmers at the centre of it.

Mitigating Problems Of Small Farmers

The organization, as their name suggests, stands for the collective growth and collective prosperity of the agricultural ecosystem. Samunnati's Agri Commerce and Agri Finance solutions enable affiliated farmer collectives and the larger ecosystem to be more efficient and productive through multiple technology-enabled interventions and collaborative partnerships. The organization began its journey by mitigating the problem of access to capital for smallholder farmers. The farmer-centric approach led them to discover major systemic problems in the entire agri-value chain beyond the problem of capital.

Agri-Value Chains In Various States

While speaking to The Logical Indian over mail, Anilkumar SG, Founder and CEO of Samunnati, said, "The agriculture sector struggles with huge information asymmetry and several gaps exist. Agriculture as a sector also remains exposed to risks & unpredictability related to production, weather, prices, and policy. However, some of these risks can be better mitigated by using technology as an intervention. As digitization rapidly takes root in every sector and household of India, a gamut of connectivity, data and opportunity come together for the sector and this is the essence of agri-tech."

Samunnati has a presence in more than 100 agri-value chains spread over 22 states in India and has powered over $1Bn of gross transaction value in its journey so far. Samunnati currently has access to over 1500 Farmer Collectives with a member base of over 6 million farmers and envisions impacting 1 in every 4 farming households through its network by 2027.

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