LAHORE: Syngenta Pakistan Limited for the facilitation of smallholders has launched “Aaghaz” centres in rural communities.
These centres, based on a franchise model in far-flung rural neighborhoods, will now allow the farmers to conveniently get the company’s best-in-class products and technical advisory services without the need to travel long distances.
Estimates suggest that farmers often have to travel as many as 23 KMs to purchase agricultural inputs and to seek agricultural services. This puts farmers, especially small growers, at a disadvantage as travelling long distances comes with additional time and monetary costs.
Aaghaz centres address this key challenge faced by the small farmers and will not only help in increasing the competitiveness of smallholders while promoting food security in the country through better farm productivity but will also create micro-entrepreneurial opportunities for the rural population.
The launching ceremony of the first “Aaghaz” centre at Bhowana tehsil in Punjab was attended by the regional and country leadership teams of the company, local farmers and other community members. Speaking on the occasion, Pamela Gonzalez (Head of Asia Group) said: Syngenta is here to serve our farmers in Pakistan and help them to increase the yield of their production and the profitability of their business. It is great to see that with this new Aaghaz model we can be closer to many farmers and their communities and serve them better. This is a moment of pride for the Company.
These views were further resonated by Zeeshan Hasib Baig, General Manager Pakistan who stated: At Syngenta, we believe that we are here to serve our growers, with the launch of the Aaghaz Franchise; the idea is to not only make our products more accessible to growers but also create rural entrepreneurs in villages who can establish and run their own Aaghaz Franchise. Every Franchise is an extension of the ‘Naya Savera’ Franchise and is intended to serve the remotest villages of Pakistan.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022