Connected-Farmers

Enabling access
to local markets
Connecting producers and retailers to boost local economies
The Rural Distribution Network (RUDI) is a unique network of women retailers selling farm
produce to 1.1 million households in India’s Gujarat and Rajasthan states. In 2013, SEWA,
the co-operative that runs RUDI, introduced mobile ordering and payments for its retailers,
enabling them to cut travel time and boost incomes. Now it plans to further strengthen
its supply chain by introducing mobile services for its smallholder farmer members.
SEWA, the Self Employed Women’s Association, established
RUDI in 2004. It aims to improve farmer and retailer livelihoods
by creating local markets for produce from smallholder farms
and gives rural communities access to quality produce at
competitive prices. Today the network includes 3,000 women
retailers, known as RUDIbens, who buy farm produce to sell to
customers in their local communities under the RUDI brand.
Previously, many RUDIbens had to travel long distances to
place orders and collect stock. Journeys were frequently
wasted because not all the produce required was available
once they reached the warehouse. Now the introduction of
an SMS-based ordering system means they can check stock
levels and submit orders by SMS and have their produce
delivered to them, saving time and money. The system,
developed through a collaboration between SEWA, the
Vodafone Foundation in India and the Cherie Blair Foundation
for Women, also enables RUDIbens to record their transactions,
track sales and reduce paperwork.
RUDI produce is purchased from a network of 15,000
smallholder farmers and brought to local distribution centres
for sorting, processing, packaging and labelling. Managing
stock levels and orders with this large network of farmers can
be challenging.
SEWA is now working with the Vodafone Foundation to
explore how mobile services can be extended to improve
communication with its network of smallholder farmers. This
will enable orders to be placed with farmers by mobile and paid
for using the mobile payment system M-Pesa. The system will
be integrated with current stock management systems and be
designed to improve efficiency in the transportation of produce
between the farms and processing centres.
The new service will also enable RUDI to improve its data on
the number of farmers in its supply chain, the size of their
landholdings and the quality and types of produce they supply,
and to provide farmers with information and advice on weather,
prices and crops, helping them to increase yields and sell their
produce for a better price.
RUDI aims to reach 15,000 farmers with the new system
by 2017.
26 Vodafone Connected Farming in India