Shop For Change Fair Trade NGO
Shop For Change Fair Trade NGO

Market Linkage, Value Chain and Livelihood

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Farmers Empowered Across India
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SKUs Marketed
%
Income Rise Through Fair Trade
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SHGs & FPOs linked to Market
Rs Cr+
Revenue Generated By Farmers

Environment & Sustainability

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Trees planted
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Tribal Families Benefited
%
Income Rise From Eco-Farming
Geo-Tagging For Impact Tracking
Regenerative Agriculture Practices

Women Empowerment

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Women SHGs Supported
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Tribal Women Engaged
%
Average Income Rise
Skill Building & Leadership Training
Digital & Offline Market Access

The Challenge

Farmers are the most important part of our food system, but their lives are often full of struggles. While food travels from the farm to our plate, the people who grow it are left behind. Small and tribal farmers in India face many challenges like not getting a fair price for their crops, low income, changing weather conditions, and lack of tools or knowledge.

Women farmers face even more difficulties—they work hard but are often not recognised or supported. Without the right help, this system continues to create poverty and harm both people and the environment.

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The Challenge
The Solution

The Solution

At Shop for Change Fair Trade, we solve these challenges through a model that brings respect, better income, and long-term opportunities to farmers. We start with direct market linkages, connecting farmers to urban buyers and platforms so they can earn fair and stable prices. To support this, we also promote agroforestry, where planting fruit-bearing and native trees adds income and supports the environment.

Our training programs cover natural and regenerative farming, business skills, and market readiness—helping farmers lower costs and improve land health. Through digital inclusion, we guide farmers in using mobile tools, e-commerce, and AI to access markets and make smart choices. At the core of our work is women’s empowerment. By ensuring women take leadership roles and benefit equally, we help uplift entire families and communities.

Our solution combines market access, green farming, skill-building, digital tools, and women-led growth to build a strong and fair future for Indian farmers.

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What We Do

GramKushal

GramKushal

We help farmers and producers move from the margins to the marketplace by strengthening direct market linkages, promoting agroforestry, delivering training in natural/regenerative farming and business skills...

Explore GramKushal
GraminBaazar

GraminBaazar

GraminBaazar is a vibrant ecosystem uniting rural India’s farmers, artisans, and verified Women Self-Help Groups. Beyond farm-fresh produce, the platform showcases handcrafted decor, traditional textiles, and organic goods...

Visit GraminBaazar

Environment

At Shop for Change Fair Trade, we believe that empowering communities and protecting the environment must go hand in hand. Climate change, soil degradation, and depleting water resources directly impact the lives of the farmers we serve.

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Livelihoods

At Shop for Change Fair Trade, we believe that sustainable livelihoods are the foundation of empowered communities. For tribal, rural, and smallholder families, income security is not just about survival—it’s about dignity, opportunity, and hope.

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Soil & Water Conservation

Healthy soil and secure water sources are the lifelines of agriculture. At Shop for Change Fair Trade, we recognize that without conserving these natural resources, sustainable farming and rural livelihoods cannot thrive.

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Tribal & Vulnerable

At Shop for Change Fair Trade, we are committed to creating dignified and lasting opportunities for tribal, indigenous, and vulnerable communities—those who have historically been excluded from mainstream development.

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Women Empowerment

At Shop for Change Fair Trade, we believe that empowering women is not just a program—it's a powerful catalyst for community-wide transformation. Women are central to agriculture, family well-being, and local economies...

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Agriculture

Agriculture is more than a livelihood—it's a way of life for millions in India. At Shop for Change Fair Trade, we work to make agriculture more profitable, sustainable, and dignified for smallholder and tribal farmers.

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Success Stories

Life Trabsformed Through Tree Plantation - Vilas Awtar

Life Trabsformed Through Tree Plantation - Journey of Vilas Awtar

A major turning point in Vilas’s life came in 2019 when he connected with the team from Shop for Change Fair Trade through the LTM-supported tree plantation initiative. Realizing the importance of regular monitoring and proper maintenance, Vilas shifted the plantation closer to his farming area where he could personally nurture the saplings.

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transforming-smallholder-farming-with-sustainable-farming

Transforming Smallholder Farming with Sustainable Farming

Shop for Change Fair Trade, with funding support from GeBBS Healthcare, launched a capacity-building project to promote sustainable agricultural practices among tribal farmers in Jawhar. A two-day focused training session was conducted for over 70 tribal farmers, ensuring equal participation from men and women.

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Ecovibe Krushi Producer Company – A Women-Led Model of Rural Enterprise

In the tribal belt of Palghar, Maharashtra, women farmers have long faced systemic barriers to income security, access to markets, and leadership opportunities. Recognizing the need for structural change, Shop for Change Fair Trade initiated the formation of a women-centric Farmer Producer Organization (FPO) to create long-term, market-driven empowerment.

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Blogs

 
 

Leadership Team

Saameer Ravindra Athavale
Chief Executive Officer

Dear Friends, Partners, and Changemakers,

Welcome to Shop for Change Fair Trade.

As the CEO of Shop for Change Fair Trade, I’ve had the privilege of witnessing firsthand the incredible journey our food takes – from the fertile soil of a farmer's field to your very own plate. It's a journey unlike any other, fundamentally different from the manufactured trends of lifestyle products. For those, demand is often created; for the food that sustains us, the demand is inherent, primal. We simply must eat.

And here’s the core of what truly drives us: this essential sustenance, the very foundation of our existence, springs from an irreplaceable source – the farmer's field. You can't replicate it. You can't outsource it. It comes from the earth, nurtured by dedicated hands and generations of wisdom.

Yet, despite this undeniable demand and unique origin, the reality for many farmers is often far from fair. The path that fresh produce travels, from farm to fork, too often dictates the farmer's destiny. If that path – that value chain – is opaque and unfair, the people who feed us receive far too little. This is precisely why we are relentlessly focused on enhancing this vital journey, and in doing so, we actively empower our farmers at every step. When the value chain is transparent and fair, then the maximum benefit flows precisely where it belongs: to the producer.

Thank you for joining us on this mission. Together, through every conscious choice, we can cultivate a brighter, fairer future for all.

Warmly,

Saameer Athavale
CEO, Shop for Change Fair Trade 

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Dr Sudhir Kumar Goel

Director - Chief Mentor

Gunjan Jain

Director

Chitra Jathar

Director

Nilesh Kale

Director

Life Cycle of a Market Linkage Project

Creating Sustainable Livelihoods Through Fair Trade Access

At Shop for Change Fair Trade, market linkage is not just about selling products—it's about building a long-term, dignified ecosystem where farmers and artisans are recognized as entrepreneurs, not just producers. Our market linkage model is demand-driven, inclusive, and built to last.

Here's how the life cycle unfolds:

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Community Mobilization & Needs Assessment

  • Identify tribal and rural farmer groups or SHGs (Self-Help Groups)
  • Conduct baseline surveys to understand local skills, crops, and potential
  • Mobilize women and marginal farmers into clusters or FPO structures

Goal: Understand what communities produce, what they need, and what markets want.

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Capacity Building & Product Readiness

  • Conduct training on:
  • Quality control
  • Packaging and labelling
  • Organic practices
  • Hygiene and compliance (e.g., FSSAI, Jaivik Bharat)
  • Facilitate product standardization and shelf-life optimization

Goal: Ensure that local products meet market expectations without compromising traditional value.

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Product-Market Fit Validation

  • Test products through corporate stalls, exhibitions, and small batch sales
  • Gather real-time customer feedback and track preferences
  • Adjust design, pricing, or packaging accordingly

Goal: Validate what sells, where, and at what price—before scaling

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Brand Development & Digital Enablement

  • Create collective or regional brands (e.g., “JashPure”)
  • Provide support for storytelling, label design, and local identity
  • Onboard products on e-commerce platforms (Amazon, Flipkart) and build custom FPO marketplaces
  • Train community members in basic digital tools and WhatsApp commerce

Goal: Build visibility, traceability, and consumer trust around grassroots brands.

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Market Access & Sales Activation

  • Organize B2C stalls in urban spaces and corporate offices
  • Establish tie-ups with urban retailers and ethical trade partners
  • Link to institutional buyers (hotels, restaurants, exporters)
  • Enable direct-to-consumer (D2C) models to eliminate middlemen

Goal: Create consistent demand channels that ensure better margins for producers.

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Supply Chain & Logistics Support

  • Build local collection, storage, and dispatch systems
  • Help FPOs access cold chains, agri-processing units, and transportation
  • Integrate simple inventory tracking and geo-tagging for transparency

Goal: Move products efficiently while maintaining quality.

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Monitoring, Data Tracking & Impact Measurement

  • Use geo-tagging, AI dashboards, and real-time sales data to monitor:
  • Sapling survival (in agri-based products)
  • Farmer incomes
  • Sales performance by channel
  • Track household-level change in income, decision-making, and ownership

Goal: Continuously refine the model and prove long-term impact.

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Scaling & Sustainability

  • Strengthen the producer’s organization (FPO/SHG) to manage business independently
  • Link with government schemes (PM-KISAN, FPO subsidies) and CSR co-funding
  • Expand into new geographies or product lines based on proven demand

Goal: Transition from NGO-led to community-owned market ecosystems.

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Outcomes at Every Stage

  • 30–50% income increase for farmers
  • Women-led producer companies and enterprises
  • Grassroots brands with national reach
  • Circular model where revenue feeds community development

Market Linkage is not the end—it’s the engine that sustains growth, dignity, and independence.

@ShopforChangeFairTrade

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