Bayer to scale up Sahbhaagi programme to build evolving ecosystem for micro-entrepreneurs while transforming Indian agriculture

New Delhi

Bayer, a global enterprise with core competencies in the life science fields of healthcare and agriculture, announced its plan to scale up its Sahbhaagi programme to empower rural women and youth with the aim to develop a comprehensive agricultural ecosystem. This was stated in a press release issued by Bayer on September 1.

The Bayer Sahbhaagi Program was launched in 2019 and today it has more than 4,000 Sahbhaagis across India. The initiative creates unique opportunities for rural entrepreneurs to partner with Bayer, explore alternate demand generation routes and enhance Bayer’s reach to farmers, says the release.

Sahbhaagi is a rural micro-entrepreneurship development model which empowers farmers, women and rural youth to become an advisor and recommend the right solutions to smallholder growers. The scale-up of the Sahbhaagi programme will include adding more Sahbhaagi partners to create a strong network of outreach and engagement with farmers across India, and anyone above the age of 18 with knowledge of agriculture and access to a smartphone is eligible to become a Sahbhaagi.

In addition to enrolling young agri-entrepreneurs, says the release, Bayer understands the major role women play in shaping their families and the agriculture value chain. Their role as influencers in buying decisions makes them the perfect partners to scale up the program.

According to the release, the programme will be fuelled further by the adoption of smartphones and evolving digital technologies that have created new touchpoints with farmers. The Sahbhaagis have been trained and equipped to recommend the right solutions to smallholder farmers as per local farm conditions. The smallholder growers get access to Bayer products digitally with the assistance of the Sahbhaagis. This programme is currently active in 24 states, across more than 470 districts and 1980 sub-districts.

Speaking about the programme, Simon-Thorsten Wiebusch, Country Divisional Head - Crop Science Division of Bayer for India, Bangladesh & Sri Lanka said, “In our broad effort to transform agricultural practices for the benefit of local communities, we aim to provide opportunities to micro-entrepreneurs to encourage sustainable and responsible farming and support rural productivity. Bayer will continue to work closely with these Sahbhaagis to create a sustainable ecosystem in their villages, adopting the latest agricultural and farming practices, learning the technical know-how of Bayer products and offering customized crop and product advisory to farmers.”