According to sources due to the small scale, and long travel distance from the places where they sell, most small and medium farmers in Andhra Pradesh suffer income losses. Meanwhile since these farmers do not have a formal credit history, it is difficult for them to access any formal financial services.
Furthermore to solve this issue, the Government of Andhra Pradesh and MasterCard have introduced e-Rythu, a mobile platform that digitizes agriculture marketplaces, payments and workflows. As per report from MasterCard, this platform helps farmers buy, sell and receive payments for products via their feature phones. The statement read “It will help small scale farmers looking to sell their produce to connect with the right buyers more efficiently in local language and receive the best possible prices”.
Moreover the platform has been developed by MasterCard Labs for Financial
Inclusion in Nairobi, Kenya and customized for India use by the Labs team based
at Pune. Moreover the MasterCard claims
that e-Rythu will bring a positive change to the lives of over one million
small and medium farmers in Andhra Pradesh by allowing them direct access to
markets on the platform discover the best price of their crops and receive
digital payments for what they sell. Hence the platform also creates a digital
transaction history, which allows farmers to receive formal credit from banks
and other financial institutions.
