The ‘Study on Mapping FPRW in Cotton Supply Chain in Telangana’ intends to map and analyze the cotton supply chain, particularly among cotton growing communities, in Telangana. The study intends to explore and incorporate all the inter-connected stakeholders (those directly depending on cotton from their livelihood from cotton as well as the State and Civil Society Organizations - CSOs) and promote decent work and sustainable production practices from the stage of raw material production.

This preparatory stakeholders’ workshop was held in October 2019 in Hyderabad, with an objective to present the research plan to the selected stakeholders in the cotton supply chain and invite their comments and suggestions for further developing and strengthening the design of the study.

The stakeholders were identified through conversation with experts on the subject and preliminary pilot visits to the field along with methodical literature review to ascertain the major State and non-State actors in the cotton supply chain in Telangana. The 27 participants represented a range of farmers’ organizations and trade unions, state officials, academic researchers, seed companies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

For inviting the feedback of the participants in a structured manner, the workshop was divided into four broad themes which on aggregate cover the gamut of issues and polices related to various aspects of the study at hand. The themes are a) Seeds and Other Inputs in Cotton Production, b) Output Market and Procurement, c) Issues of Labour and Cotton farmers and d) Sustainability Concerns. Discussants were grouped under these themes based on their professional affiliation and expertise. The consultation provided useful inputs and concluded with the appreciation of the proposed methodology and objective of the research.