Written by: gfesadmin on January 26, 2013

Despite the obvious poverty that wreaks havoc in the lives of millions of rural Indians, conglomerates along with the India government rationalize that consumption by the poor will result in the much-needed redemption from scarcity and need. “Buy more to get the economy moving because more consumption means more jobs; via the miracle of the market… scarcity miraculously turned into abundance by consumption itself…” (location 969).  This is ‘smart’ reasoning by conglomerates, backed by the Indian government, to eradicate rural poverty.  

The recent debate in India to allow FDA is based upon this myth.   Time magazine ran a recent article on how Bharati Retail, the Indian subsidiary of WalMart, is working directly with the farmers to revolutionize rural India.  But will it?

“In Malerkotla, Punjab, the world’s biggest retail company is also digging deep into India’s villages. Walmart supplies about 140 stores in the region through its joint-venture partner, Bharti Retail, and wants to expand nationally. To do that, it must turn its small network of 800 farmers, half of them in Malerkotla, into a reliable, efficient supply chain of 35,000 farmers by the end of 2015. Walmart agronomists are working with Malerkotla’s vegetable farmers to improve yields with basic techniques like soil testing and germinating seedlings in trays. They have also reduced costs by using Walmart-negotiated discounts for seeds and pesticides. Walmart set up village collection centers to shorten travel time, uses digital scales to ensure fair weights and replaced burlap bags with plastic crates to minimize waste and damage in transit. 

The target is a 20% increase in farmers’ incomes in five years. Raj Jain, head of Walmart India, says this is the only way to build a sustainable business. If incomes rise, farmers will sell their produce to Walmart first; if incomes rise enough, they will also become its customers. That’s about to happen in Malerkotla, where Bharti Walmart will open a new store later this year, Jain says. “The only way that we can make a difference to a country like India would be to close that circle.”

In my opinion, this soon-to-be success story is anywhere from becoming a success for rural India in the long run.   Perhaps, it will be the next big success story for WalMart. Cynical and skeptical, I am, but for good reasons I believe.  While all this may even be a sincere effort to create a ‘free market’, it is dubious that mutual benefits and bi-lateral transactions are ascertained transparently as it should in a free market.   A simple analysis of the situation will reveal that even though farmers participate voluntarily and they are informed of their stake, they in the long run will never rise to become ‘shareholders’ as it should be in a truly ‘free market’.

Why? Because first of all, the rural farmer is an unsuspecting bait who for the first time seeing ‘money’.   All his/her production is exported out of the village leaving little or nothing for local consumption.   Moreover, the increased concentrated production of a single produce/product from a village reduces the possibility of production of other local staple foods since every farmer in the village will be roped in to the supply chain.  

Secondly, although his or her income increases giving them purchasing power, they will not purchase shares but FCMG’s (Fast Moving Consumer Goods). There purchasing power is once again exploited by retailers creating a demand in the rural market through the introduction of FCMG’s, which only siphons off money from the poor again to multi-nationals leaving the rural economy raped and resources exploited. The FCMG industry already predicts and envisions a steep growth in India.   RTT News article states: 

“FMCG sector in rural areas is expected to grow by 40 per cent compared to 25 per cent in urban areas. Rising rural incomes, healthy agricultural growth, boost in demand, rising consumerism across India, better penetration of FMCG products in the rural market are contributing to high growth and rapid expansion of the FMCG industry in rural India.”

Finally, to buffer the damning effects of this so – called ‘free market’, corporate social responsibility schemes are introduced to provide a well, a school or some skills training which again does not ensure sustainable development, at the core of which is upholding justice and rights to improve the overall quality of every human life.

The bottom line isn’t rocket science to determine: the rich will become richer and the poor will become poorer. Poorer not just in an economic sense, but poorer in the freedom to make a choice, between their overall steady well – being in the long run and ‘enjoying’ the immediate fleeting benefits of ‘increased income’.   They become poorer in that they now mask the pain of poverty with the pleasure of consuming goods they do not need or perhaps they could have otherwise produced locally, in an environmentally and socially conscious and community centered manner that would have generated the local economy.   Poorer because of the erosion of the bed – rock of their local culture, values and relationships which should have been preserved and enhanced.   Poorer still in the sense of their willingness now to sell anything and everything; their land, their people, their resources, just for money compounding social problems of bonded labor, child labor, alcoholism, etc Poorer as their sense of spirituality and community being replaced with individualism. 

Against such backdrop, the church in India is challenged with an enormous task.   Planted and growing in these rural communities, it is the agent of transformation.  “The local church then becomes God’s greatest gift to the community as a dynamic channel through which His presence and power can be meaningfully manifested and his blessings can flow freely” (Samuel Stephens, IGL).  IGL’s Adopt A Village Program is a multi-pronged and multi-faceted strategy for comprehensive rural development and reconstruction is a local church based and community centered transformative effort that empowers people with information, skills and tools, develops leaders, and initiate sustainable programs such as animal husbandry development, cottage trades, water resource management and setting up cooperatives. Moreover, it ensures that justice and rights of every individual is upheld. 

With these efforts, founded and led by the church, the community then experiences life abundant because now it lives in the “economy of giving” (location 1029) and not simply receiving.  The community lives not in the dearth of sharing but in hopeful living that is not caught up in the ‘game of monopoly’ and consumerism. 

References: 

” Rural India offers scope for FMCG, retail and auto companies: Assocham.” Realtime Business News, Economic News, Breaking News and Forex News – RTTNews  . http://www.rttnews.com/910049/rural-india-offers-scope-for-fmcg-retail-and-auto-companies-assocham.aspx (accessed January 24, 2013).

Cavanaugh, William T.. Being consumed: economics and Christian desire. Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 2008.

“India: A New Crop Of Consumers – TIME.” Breaking News, Analysis, Politics, Blogs, News Photos, Video, Tech Reviews – TIME.com. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2071030,00.html#ixzz2J1Xm36cn (accessed January 24, 2013).

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