In rural India, raw agricultural produce often travels long distances before reaching a processing unit costing farmers precious margins and reducing their control over the value chain. At CCD, we’ve flipped this model on its head.

We help small and marginal farmers set up community-owned dal mills that are planned, funded, and operated by farmers themselves. One such example is the Groundnut and Dal Processing Mill in Tadimarri, Andhra Pradesh, which now processes up to 2 tons of dal every day fully controlled by the farmers who grow it.

These farmer-led mills are more than just processing units they are hubs of rural entrepreneurship, building local economies and reducing dependency on middlemen or distant buyers.

Key Benefits of Farmer-Led Dal Processing Units:
• Value addition at the source: Farmers don’t just sell raw produce they process it locally into market-ready goods, capturing more profit in the village itself.
• Improved margins and price control: By reducing external commissions and transportation costs, farmers earn better rates for their output.
• Employment generation: These mills create stable local jobs in cleaning, grading, packaging, and logistics—especially for rural youth and women.
• Skill development and capacity building: CCD supports training in operations, quality control, and business management to help cooperatives thrive independently.
• Encourages long-term self-reliance: As profits grow, cooperatives reinvest in infrastructure, technology, and education—making development cyclical, not one-time.

Systemic Impact of the CCD Model:
• Encourages collective ownership and democratic decision-making
• Strengthens local food systems by promoting clean, traceable produce
• Reduces rural migration by offering dignified, local livelihoods
• Builds resilience against market shocks, by giving farmers multiple revenue streams

The result? A shift from being price takers to value creators. Farmers who once had little say in market dynamics now run successful dal businesses from their own villages serving regional and urban markets.