How does SAMPADA promote backward and forward linkages?

• A. By integrating raw-material supply with processors (backward) and linking to markets/export channels (forward)
• B. By focusing only on marketing
• C. By exporting raw materials
• D. By limiting to local sales

Answer: (B)

This question tests how an agro-processing scheme builds connections along the value chain. Backward linkages mean securing a steady flow of raw materials from farmers to processors, while forward linkages mean connecting the finished goods to markets and export channels.

SAMPADA promotes both by creating integrated clusters and infrastructure that tie together farmers, processors, and buyers. It supports organized procurement from farmers, ensuring a reliable supply of quality inputs for processing, while also enabling marketing, branding, packaging, and access to domestic and international markets. By coordinating input supply with processing capacity and linking products to marketplaces, it drives value addition, reduces waste, and stabilizes incomes across the chain.

Focusing only on marketing would address market access but miss the essential connection to raw-material supply and the processing side of the chain, leaving the forward linkages incomplete.