A Scalable Rural Business Model for Indian Indigenous Farmers

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6239-620-3_19How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Women empowerment; indigenous farming; design for social impact

Abstract

This study explores a rural scalable business framework, inspired by the work of Padma Shri Beej Mata Rahibai Popere, known for preserving 100+ indigenous seed varieties through a community seedbank, and training rural farmers in traditional farming techniques. Indigenous knowledge like seed saving and farming techniques is under-utilized, which affects the environment as also people’s health. Building a replicable franchise model, with brand identity, products and a common website for the farmers is recommended to preserve this knowledge. This helps to create new employment opportunities through site visits, trainings, workshops and production units. Design contributes to building such frameworks that are scalable, empower people and make them visible. Secondary research used STEEP Analysis and the Golden Circle frameworks, while Primary Research involved six semi-structured interviews of diverse stakeholders-Rahibai Popere, organic farmers, seed packagers and urban organic gardeners. Thematic analysis revealed system gaps, community-led practices and user needs. This model establishes a rural-urban connect via school visits, farmer group collaborations, and pre-established government transport facilities. Case studies of Mitticool and Jayashree Industries support such rural businesses, demonstrating how design contributes to building frameworks that are scalable and empowering, making people visible. Based on Rahibai’s work, this offers a replicable approach to community-building, rural self-sufficiency and indigenous farming. The model is presented as a basis for rural development, a blend of traditional knowledge and resources. The research argues that design goes beyond visuals and aesthetics, to enable system-building and scaling of grass-root projects.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Krishna Suhas Bendre
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/03/31
TI  - A Scalable Rural Business Model for Indian Indigenous Farmers
BT  - Proceedings of the ATLAS International Design Conference 2025 (AIDC 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 301
EP  - 310
SN  - 2667-128X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-620-3_19
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6239-620-3_19
ID  - Bendre2026
ER  -