E-Choupal Case Study from India | Information Technology and Social Enterprise

E-Choupals Use Internet Kiosks to Increase Food Price Transparency

I first read about the e-Choupal internet kiosk system in “The Forture at the Bottom of the Pyramid.” and was intrigued by the E-Choupal case study. Prahalad highlights:

Farmers lack access to information such as best practices, accurate weather forecasts, and up to date information on commodity market prices. Farmers lack access to the market and are therefore caught in the vicious cycle of suboptimal use of farm inputs, higher costs of credit, and lower price realizations on produce, leading to insignificant disposable income for farmers and their families.

Prahalad breaks down how the E-Choupals meet 10 core information and communication needs:

• Weather
• Pricing
• News
• Best practices
• Q & A

As well as…

• Entertainment
• Sports
• Education
• Communication
• General interests

The Acumend Fund of the World Resources institute points out the solutions the e-Choupal system provides:

The e-Choupal system gives farmers more control over their choices, a higher profit margin on their crops, and access to information that improves their productivity. By providing a more transparent process and empowering local people as key nodes in the system, ITC increases trust and fairness.

Prahalad points out in “Fortune at the Base of the Pyramid”:

The e-Choupals, information centers containing a computer linked to the Internet, represent an approach to seamlessly connect subsistence farmers with large firms, current agricultural research, and global markets.

Prahalad further points out that internet kiosks:

…are a one-stop shop that acted as a storefront for buying farm inputs, a market for selling goods, and an Internet cafe for communication and information services.

Acumen suggest important lessons from the E-Choupal model:

The case also shows the key role of information technology—in this case provided and maintained by a corporation, but used by local farmers—in helping bring about transparency, increased access to information, and rural transformation. Critical factors in the apparent success of the venture are ITC’s extensive knowledge of agriculture, the effort ITC has made to retain many aspects of the existing production system, including maintenance of local partners, the company’s commitment to transparency, and the respect and fairness with which both farmers and local partners are treated.

You can read the full e-choupal case study from the World Resources Institute (in PDF form) or the case study of E-Choupals created by Prahalad and hosted by EID Parry.

The internet kiosk model is one of several services EID Parry provides to farmers according to Prahalad:

• Expert visits/crop seminars
• Soil sampling and analysis
• Land preparation
• Arrangements for labor/machinery
• Nutrient Management
• Irrigation mechanisms
• Crop diagnostics
• Advice for farm inputs
• Harvesting techniques

They also offer

• Internet services (e-governance)
• Publishing/copying
• Digital photography

And the kiosks can “double as an internet cafe.” Multi-functionality seems to be built into their system and organization.

Video Case Study on the E-Choupal Internet Kiosk System in India

This video microenterprise case study was created at the Michigan Business School points to the use of the internet for e-government in India or you can check out other micro enterprise case studies.

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