The 200-odd households of Dhamnod earned their living by selling farm produce to traders who would visit the village every week. The villagers received very little profit because they had no alternative other than selling their produce to middlemen who would pocket most of the earnings.

The absence of a local market caused a double financial drain for the community in this remote village in Vidisha district of Madhya Pradesh. “We had to spend a good amount of our savings on traveling to the market to purchase commodities, particularly food materials,” said Sairam Ahirwar, a farmer. The two nearest markets for the Dhamnod community are in Gyaraspur, which is eight kilometers away, and in Haidergarh, which is even farther at 20 kilometers.

“The Saksham project team encouraged us to start a local market where we could sell our produce. In one of our meetings, we discussed the possibility of starting a local weekly market. After all, what is the need of traveling eight kilometers to buy things that we could buy from the village itself?” said Suresh Kushwah, a member of the youth group established by the Saksham project. Manav Vikas Seva Sangh (MVSS) started the Misereor-supported Saksham project in 15 villages of Vidisha district in April 2022 to help farmers gain more control over agriculture. As part of the program, the Saksham team raised and strengthened farmers’ groups, youth groups, and women’s groups that worked on sustainable agriculture and good governance.

“We consulted with the elders of the village and held discussions with the Panchayat members. We also mobilized farmers and informed them about the benefits of a Haat Bazaar (weekly market). After six months of consultations, there was a consensus in the village to start a Haat Bazaar,” said Premchand Ahirwar, the president of the Bajrangbali youth group. Once the consensus was reached, the farmers’ group and the women’s group of the village also joined the campaign. The group members then requested Mr. Mahesh Rona, the Sarpanch (village headman), to obtain the necessary legal and administrative clearances for starting the local market. “We made a representation before the Sub Divisional Magistrate to start the market on Saturdays on the community land in the village. After completing the documentation formalities, we were given the administrative clearance to start the Haat Bazaar at the space we had identified,” said Mahesh Rona.

Mr. Rona further mentioned that the village community constituted a 6-member committee comprising community leaders, youth leaders, farmers, and Panchayat members as the management team of the Haat Bazaar. The committee was also tasked with addressing grievances of sellers and buyers and resolving any disputes regarding space sharing at the marketplace.

After all community-level preparations, which included extensive mobilization of farmers, the first weekly market opened on 24 September 2022 with 12 farmers setting up their stalls. “It was a new experience to open a shop and sell something for the first time. I didn’t even know how to weigh things. But I sold bottle gourd, tomatoes, potatoes, and chili peppers that I grew on my farm,” said Dheeraj, a young farmer with a gleeful smile. Gradually, the number of stalls at the market increased. The Haat Bazaar, which started with a humble 12 stalls, expanded to 80 stalls in just two months.

“The Haat Bazaar is a big relief for the unemployed youth of the village, as many of them started opening shops or stalls like Paani-puri, tea, grocery, mobile accessories, etc.,” said Mr. Anil Lodhi, a youth who recently started a Paani-Puri stall in the weekly market.

“When the market starts at 12 noon, the entire village springs to life with hustle and bustle. Now people from nearby villages also come to our village for purchasing and selling things. I normally earn around Rs. 2000 profit by selling vegetables,” said Ratan Kushwaha, a local farmer. The weekly market operates from 12 noon to 9 pm every Saturday.

“Initially, we were hesitant to open a shop because we had never sold anything in the market. Our women farmers’ group members decided to try our luck at selling our farm produce. Fortunately, our decision to start our stalls succeeded, and we now have another dependable income source,” said Mrs. Lata Kumar, one of the first four woman farmers who opened stalls in the weekly market.