NotOnMap partners StayFlexi to boost India’s rural ecosystem

NotOnMap, a social initiative for the marginalized across rural India and StayFlexi, the world’s first flexible and autonomous hospitality company based out of California have come together for their social initiative NotOnMart for rural India.

NotOnMart in essence is a small scale community-led initiative that aims to scale up the coordination of micro-sized businesses. The project can turn out to be a major promoting factor for rural tourism, as it supports rural craftsmen.

With this initiative, NotOnMap plans to support the livelihood of farmers and craftsmen of rural pockets by connecting them directly to the end-consumer through a tech-enabled platform without involving any middleman. With more farmers joining in, currently, the portal is ready with 1200+ products from 1500 farmers from 6 states of India.

“This is indeed a very important and much-needed step, especially looking at the communities which have been affected by the pandemic. It will form ecologically sensitive ecosystems as well,” saysRupesh Kumar (Responsible Tourism State coordinator, Govt of Kerala)

Time and again one notices that the underlying structure of the supply chain relationships are not based on fairness or economic justice which plays an influential role in the livelihood of the rural population. NotOnMart is an innovative initiative to such devalued artisans and agriculturists wherein with a simple tool of short supply chain they restructure farming methods and food/handicrafts economy. “This doesn’t just address economic problems but also addresses the ethical problems of the existing systems and distinguishes between them through building new and alternative supply chains that are more beneficial for the welfare of the actual supplier,” said Raj Basu (Advisor Rural Tourism and Homestays at Govt. of Arunachal Pradesh).