Abstract  

The case deals with the value chain of groundnuts, from the farm to the market, conducted through a system of cooperatives based in the district of Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh, India.  The organization providing the necessary support and training to the cooperatives is the Centre for Collective Development (CCD).  CCD is able to provide financing, training and other support required to the village-level cooperatives and the district-level federation of co-operatives.  The case describes the different activities in the supply chain from the farm, to the mill to the final marketing. It further highlights the challenges from issues such as lack of irrigation, price fluctuations, etc.  The key decisions to be made are whether the scope of the co-operatives should be expanded to include other products, and whether the federation should invest in forward integration and further value-adding activities.

Learning Objective 

The case intends to teach the importance of co-operatives and collective action, managerial leadership, and empowering people to take long-term decisions, particularly in the farming and agriculture sector.  The case is intended for use in Operations Management or Supply Chain Management course to understand the rural supply chain in India and the functioning of co-operatives.