As part of the knowledge partnership exercise between Vrutti Livelihood Impact Partners and IT for Change under the ‘Re-wiring India's Digitalising Economy for Women's Rights and Well-being’ project, IT for Change conducted a baseline survey of 230 women farmers part of the Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) associated with Vrutti, measuring various parameters including income data, employment status, and the nature of access to digital technologies and financial services. The survey also assessed the 3-Fold Vrutti model in two intervention sites – Pudukkottai in the state of Tamil Nadu and Kanakapura in the state of Karnataka.
The baseline survey revealed that FPOs play a significant role in bridging voids created by the lack of gender-sensitive public institutional support structures for women farmers. However, women's engagement with digital tools continues to operate within gendered norms despite existing interventions, with benefits that are fragmented and incomplete. A gap analysis conducted using the results of the baseline survey reveals that there is a need to focus on a gender-responsive techno-institutional design while creating digital-based interventions, which are key to promoting institutional mechanisms that support women farmers.
The complete baseline report and its recommendations can be read here.