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Re‐examining strategic and developmental implications of e‐Choupal, India
Author(s) -
Mukerji Maitrayee
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
the electronic journal of information systems in developing countries
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.41
H-Index - 18
ISSN - 1681-4835
DOI - 10.1002/isd2.12132
Subject(s) - bottom of the pyramid , business , marketing , procurement , industrial organization , information and communications technology , empowerment , productivity , product (mathematics) , entrepreneurship , economic growth , economics , geometry , mathematics , finance , political science , law
e‐Choupal is an ICT‐enabled intervention in rural India, providing agriculture‐related information and services to farmers. Widely acclaimed as a Bottom‐of‐Pyramid (BoP)intervention, e‐Choupal is known for successfully demonstrating sustainable deployment of ICTs for strengthening agricultural market linkages. Much of the popular understanding about e‐Choupal is based on case studies documenting use of Internet in rural India, developing markets for BoP, rural entrepreneurship and corporate social responsibility. However, recent empirical research put forth interesting insights on intermediating role of ICTs and impact of e‐Choupal. This paper integrates these two sets of literature using a strategic information systems perspective to draw insights for policy makers and practitioners. The dominant narrative projects e‐Choupal as almost altruistic endeavor to empower farmers to overcome contextual constraints such as fragmented farms, exploitative middlemen, poor productivity and limited market linkages. It underplays the strong business imperative for the agri‐business firm to invest in e‐Choupal to address distortions and uncertainty in price and quality during procurement of agricultural commodities. Strategically, the company gained much from integrated supply chain, lower transaction costs, increased sourcing efficiency and product differentiation. But, development outcomes in terms of farmers' empowerment and increasing the overall competitiveness of Indian agriculture have been limited.