One District One Product (ODOP) Initiative?

The Ministry of Food Processing Industries launched it in 2018.
Objective: To help districts reach their full potential, foster economic and socio-cultural growth, and create employment opportunities, especially, in rural areas.
The initiative aims to select, brand, and promote at least One Product from each District of the country for enabling holistic socioeconomic growth across all regions.
ODOP Initiative aims to turn every district in India, into an export hub through promotion of the product in which the district specialises.
The initiative plans to accomplish this by scaling manufacturing, supporting local businesses, finding potential foreign customersand so on, thus helping to achieve the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ vision.
The ODOP Initiative has identified a total of 1102 products from 761 districts across the country.
The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), Department of Commerce, carries out this initiative in conjunction with the ‘Districts as Exports Hub’ initiative.

Process:

States/UTs have selected all products under the ODOP initiative by considering the existing ecosystem on the ground, products identified under Districts as Export Hubs (DEH), and GI-tagged products.
The relevant Department of States/UTs communicates the finalized list to the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).
The States/UTs undertake all activities, including exhibitions, capacity building, etc., at the state/UT and district level, in consultation and coordination with each other.

Why in News?

Six brands under the One District One Product scheme were launched on Wednesday. The Food Processing Ministry had inked an agreement with NAFED for developing 10 brands as the One District One Product brands under the Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro food processing Enterprises (PMFME) Scheme.

What is One District One Product?

One District One Product (ODOP) is an initiative that stakeholders see as a transformational step forward towards realizing the true potential of a district. It aims to fuel economic growth, generate employment, and promote rural entrepreneurship, ultimately aligning with the goal of AtmaNirbhar Bharat.
The ‘Districts as Export Hub’ initiative, implemented by DGFT, Department of Commerce, operationally merges with the One District One Product (ODOP) initiative, with the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) playing a significant role as a major stakeholder.
This scheme is basically a Japanese business development concept, which gained prominence in 1979. It is aimed at promoting a competitive and staple product from a specific area to push sales and improve the standard of living of the local population. Over time, it has been replicated in other Asian countries as well.
The Government of Uttar Pradesh initiated the One District One Product (ODOP) scheme in 2018 with a budget of Rs. 25,000 crores. Its aim was to revive indigenous art forms by offering financial and marketing support.
ODOP support the art producers by expanding the industrial world to recreate the lost productive manufacturing and creative process.

Objectives of the Scheme:

To address and resolve the economic and regional imbalance among the art producers’ community
To safeguard the traditional knowledge of production and creativity in manufacturing art and craft products
Create additional MSME sectors in all districts of Uttar Pradesh to increase local art production
Increase the quality and quantity of local craft production through manufacturing sectors
Provide a stable marketing platform to improve income, local employment, skills and livelihood
Develop a common marketing platform between ODOP and tourism sector for live demo sessions and promote the ODOP products as gifts and souvenirs
Create a marketing platform to promote, design packaging and establishing a brand to increase production and income.

Conclusion

The Indian crafts, agriculture, and food product have the potential to dominate the global market if provided with the opportunity for systemic growth and recognition. The ODOP aims to do that by providing the right support and business environment.

E-commerce opens more avenues for better outreach and impetus to product design and manufacturing by providing access to new markets.

With the current state of globalization, handicraft and other local sectors will benefit greatly from such initiatives.

These sectors face several challenges including the inability to access credit, high cost of institutional credit, lack of access to modern technology, inability to integrate with the supply chain, and compliance with the safety standards.

Strengthening these aspects through One District One Product (ODOP) will lead to a reduction in wastage, creation of job opportunities, and aid in achieving the Government’s objective of doubling farmers’ and local artisans’ income.