What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of a marginal farmer?
Distress? Poverty?
When you meet dairy farmers of Akshayakalpa, you will be forced to change your perception of farmers. The vision of Akshayakalpa is to ensure that dairy farming becomes both lucrative and an entrepreneurial venture for the farmers. From leading a hand to mouth existence, Akshayakalpa envisions farmers moving on to becoming prosperous. We learnt all of this and much more life lessons during our visit to Tiptur.
On a bright, sunny day, we started from Bangalore to visit Akshayakalpa. About 160 km from Bangalore, Akshayakalpa’s campus is a lush green oasis in the middle of vast stretches of empty land on either side of the road. We were welcomed, warmly by the reception team of security guards and the Akshayakalpa team members. After a cool drink of organically grown tender coconut, we visited their state of the art plant, followed by a visit to various R&D experiments run within the campus.
During our visit, we interacted with various team members of Akshayakalpa and experienced the ethos and values of the organization. We talk so much about culture and values but how many times have we experienced it?
When one visits Akshayakalpa, one experiences the culture of this mission-driven organization, right from the security guards, who ensure that everyone visiting the campus, including the drivers waiting outside, have had their meal, to every single team member. They had a sense of pride in working for Akshayakalpa. That is perhaps every founder’s dream and it was great to experience what Shashi (the founder) and his team have created.
The icing on the cake was a visit to the dairy farmers. I remember meeting one of the farmers who gave up his job as a cab driver in Bangalore and went back to his village to pursue dairy farming. It was heartening to see him and his family working hard and hopefully, soon he would be able to earn a lot more than what he would earn as a cab driver in Bangalore. And more importantly live a quality life, of respect and dignity in his own village.
All of us have at some point wondered why people from rural areas migrate to urban areas and what it would take for them to stay back in their village. Akshayakalpa is a shining example of how creating economic opportunities for our rural folk can pave the way for progress.
At Rang De, we are proud to have partnered with Akshayakalpa to enable their farmers to get access to affordable credit. So they are able to expand their farms and entrepreneurial ventures.
You can be a part of this initiative. Invest in their farms here: rangde.in/akshayakalpa