July 13, 2020
The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that assists countries in economic and industrial development.
India has entered second stage of un-lockdown with some relief measures announced by government, many big and small industries, including MSMEs in food and allied sectors, have resumed operations, although still far below pre-Covid-19 times. Perceiving the present situation in the food processing segment, a B3C – Leaders Roundtable Discussion Series on “Food Processing Industries and Building Atmanirbhar Bharat” is underway.
The food processing sector has already been recognized as a ‘sunrise’ sector in India feeding the teeming millions, this $600 billion industry gives employment close to 70 lakh workers, including around 15 lakh women labour force. Considering the pandemic conditions, the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) recently announced the setting up of a task force to address some of the pressing points faced by various units. A scrutinized scan at some of these challenges and grave problems needs to be highlighted to understand the structural nature of the issues affecting the sector and to resolve them with minimum time loss.
Funding and practicality of food processing enterprises has always been a perpetual matter. This brings smaller players, especially new entrepreneurs and MSMEs, in a critical position which often is disadvantageous because it involves high cost of capital for a given output capacity of the enterprise. To recover from the pandemic lockdown, recent demands to waive off the interest costs of enterprises demands a deep study.
Meanwhile, the issue procurement of raw materials and quality holds significant importance for food processing enterprises. On global front, though India leads in producing many of the agricultural products, the standards of value addition are still suboptimal compared to other nations.
Apart from procurement issues, the challenges to support the infrastructure ecosystem meant for simplifying the food processing sector are a major operational blockage in this sector. These challenges include the cost of warehousing and cold storages (rental and other expenses related to it), both of which are highly capital- intensive ventures.
Availability of skilled labour is another challenge in the sector. Every industry and enterprise has confronted the problem, affecting the production and economy greatly. With effective transport planning, skill training and capacity enhancement programmes, the value for a worker can be increased with a help of bring-back program.
Thus, in order to achieve a thriving and robust food processing sector, fast and concrete solutions are the need of the hour.
To help enterprises to re-start their business, UNIDO with involvement from its partners such as UN India Business Forum, Empretec India Foundation and India SME Forum, put together a knowledge and collaboration platform to Build Back Business from Crisis (B3C). This collaboration platform is receiving encouraging feedbacks from different industries. This collab can provide a strategic device for undertaking appropriate steps in a post-lockdown phase.
As part of this collaborative initiative, UNIDO and its partners, are set to organize a special leadership series, named as ‘B3C- Leader’s Roundtable Discussion Series’, which will enable industries and its stakeholders in undertaking unlockdown activities and building back businesses which remain docile at the moment.
Rameswar Teli, Minister of State, Ministry of Food Processing Industries, will share his vision and insights in ‘Getting Back to Business-Food Processing Industries in India’.
This platform will bring together industry experts and senior executives working in the food processing industries and make an attempt to address the following queries:
Ø What are the challenges for the FPI at different levels of manufacturing, and supply chain management?
Ø Where and how can MSMEs step in to improve efficiency, food safety and diversity in food processing?
Ø How will the Covid crisis impact investment in the food processing sector in India?
Ø What strengths can Indian agribusiness and food sector build on?