Kalasam - Farm Based Livelihoods Development

Over 20 years of intensive engagement of CCD with the dry-land farmers of the drought-prone regions in Tamil Nadu has resulted in promotion of Farmers Producer Organisations (FPOs). CCD organizes the small and marginal farmers involved in production of area specific crops under dry-land condition into primary producers’ groups and network them into a FPO. CCD, as a promotional institution offers a range of business development services such as production and supply of inputs, providing technical advisory, capacity building, product development, market information, quality control, brand building and facilitating credit linkages to the members through the FPO. The emphasis is on increasing and sustaining the income of the farmers.

Since 2014, with the support of NABARD, CCD has promoted 12 FPO’s in the locations of Kalasam SHG Federations and another 13 FPO’s involving other NGO’s. All these 25 FPOs are guided and assisted by CCD. Keeping the principles of enabling and empowering poor people as central focus, CCD continues to build FPOs as democratic institutions governed and managed by the local communities. CCD builds requisite managerial and marketing skills to the FPOs and steer them to become a full-fledged community enterprises catering to the consumers directly and through other community organisations promoted by CCD.

Kalasam Farmer Producer Organisations

Building Climate Resilient Farming Practices in Smallholder Farms

With the support of Azim Premji Philanthropic Initiative, CCD has taken up a project " Building Sustainable Livelihoods through Climate Resilient Farming Practices in Smallholder Farms" in the drought prone districts of Tamil Nadu such as Madurai, Dindigul, Sivagangai, Virudhunagar, Ramanathapuram, Tuticorin and Trirunelveli.

Technical Support to TNRTP

CCD is a Technical Support Agency for the Tamil Nadu Rural Transformation Project (TNRTP), for providing “Capacity Building Support for Development and Strengthening of Producer Collectives Under TNRTP as Technical Support Agency for the Region 3 & 4 including the district such as Virudhunagar, Sivagangai, Ramanathapuram, Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli, Pudukkottai, Kancheepuram, Thiruvallur, Tiruvannamalai, Vellore, and Krishnagiri. CCD's roles in the Project are:

To assist and handhold in formation, development and capacity building support of the Enterprise Groups (EGs) and Producer Groups(PGs) at the village level.
To strengthen the Producer Collectives (PCs) as an institutional mechanism for sustaining and up-scaling farm, off-farm and non-farm based livelihood interventions and assist in developing guideline.
To handhold the formation and registration of PCs and hence make it function effectively.
To strengthen the Producer Collectives - PCs to effectively work in the market system as a strong market player.
To position the PCs as an important player in the mainstream market with a significant share of the local business.

CBBO for NABARD & NCDC

CCD has been empanelled as a Cluster Based Business Organization (CBBO) by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) and National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) under the Central Sector Scheme for Formation and Promotion of 10,000 Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs). With this empanelment, CCD will promote Farmer Producer Organisations around key commodities in Tamil Nadu.