1. 25 years of Empowering Women, Building them as Entrepreneurs

2. Overview of problems of rural –tribal women in Project Area
Factors responsible for poverty
Low literacy, patriarchal mindsets, high population, religion & caste discrimination
Poor health facilities leads to poor health and incidence of malnutrition
Depletion of natural resource for survival (Agri, NTFP & livestock)
Lack of knowledge and skills to tap better opportunities
Poor governance support
Alcoholism and left wing extremism
Factor affecting higher income
Lower & remotely disaggregated production at high cost of production
Poor quality of land and infrastructural support to natural resource based income generation avenues
Limited Job Options
Traditional cultivation practices with meager exposure to new technologies and improved/ scientific practices
Factors affecting market linkages for rural-tribal women
Poor support from financial intermediaries (loans/credit)
Lack of knowledge on technology, Value addition and authentic market information
Economy of scale and scope
Exploitation by traders (under weighing, unfair grading and opportunist pricing)
Lack of basic infrastructure (warehouses, transport facilities, packaging material

3. Services to address problems
Enhance production
Process up-gradation
Scientific methods of cultivation for Farm, NTFP, Livestock based enterprises
Basket approach: adding compatible products value chains
Deliver business services to achieve economy of scale
Capacity building at key nodes of Value chain
Product up-gradation
establish processing unit for primary & secondary level
federated women FPOs/ cooperatives/WEGs
Standard operating mechanism- step guide from harvesting to primary/secondary value addition
Diversify livelihood options
“Basket Approach” or Economy of Scope for irreversible livelihood
Compatible products locally suitable, technological feasible, environment friendly, affordable and appropriate to women and also have significant market value (lac, agri-crops, mushrooms, kitchen gardening/ BYP, NTFPs, micro enterprises)
Strengthen market linkages
Deliver BDS (advisory services, financial & market linkages, convergence and dovetailing with government schemes)
Identifying multiple buyers (multiple products) to negotiate better with market and economic agents through women led cooperatives
Train groups in conducting detailed market feasibility, exploring and using best market strategy for better negotiation

4. Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh
Enterprise Basket to diversify livelihood of rural-tribal women in Project Area
Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh
Lac (PSCL) and Brood farm
Livestock care services (vaccination, feeding and shelter practices) for backyard poultry and Goat Rearing
Lac cooperatives

5. Geographical coverage and outreach
Chhattisgarh
Madhya Pradesh
No. beneficiaries
11,000
9,000
No. of Districts/ Blocks Villages
1 district/3 block/56 villages
4 districts /5 blocks/106 villages
Enterprise Basket
Lac (PSCL)
4,628 indirect lac producers
8,688 direct lac producers
7,684 direct lac producers
14 indirect lac producers
Brood farm
11 brood farms with 883 lac producers
5 brood farms with 107 lac producers
Lac cooperatives
1 cooperative formed with 19 lac producers
In process
Semialata plantation
1,26,953 plants planted in acre by 116 lac producers
50,000 plants planted in 11.5 acre by 6 lac producers
Livestock services
12,907 (birds) and 6,437 (cattle) with 2,403 families
21,943 (birds) and 6,608 (goats) with 3,557 families

6. Impacts Change in Behaviour Change in skill
Adopted necessary business skills i.e. mobility, public speaking, bargaining, record keeping and etc.
Saving habit and increased income through diversified activities
Increased mobility for enterprise management
BDSPs working as trainers to spread best practices
Moved-up to the value chain to have more control on the value addition processes and better profit margins
Change in Knowledge
Adopted improved practice of vegetable cultivation, kitchen gardening, accessing livestock care services
Increased production and reduced cost of production
Adoption of better management practices for multiple enterprises (mushroom, vaccination services, NTFPs)
Change in attitude
Transition from collection to cultivation of lac and adoption of vaccination to birds/chicks
Challenging social norms of a woman not being able to run a business
Risk taking and competition facing ability enhanced
Decision making in domestic and public sphere increased
Access and control of women over cash increased
Change in Policy
The tools and equipment support to sustain NTFP production (including lac) is now supported by GoI.
Semialata plantation is accepted and taken forward by Forest officials/Department and supported through MNREGS
Discussion to incorporate Lac tress based farming system ( mainly semialata) under crop –insurance is started at various forums

7. Impacts/Results Change in Institution
Received best lac promotion institution” award from honorable Chief Minister of Jharkhand
Change in Environment
Around 1.5 lac Semialata plants planted on acre land. 1 acre  trees annually consumes the amount of carbon dioxide equivalent to the Oxygen annually inhaled by 18 person.

8. Learning and experience
Strong M&E systems need to be in placed to capture and document changes in people’s lives
Need to bring more products in the livelihood basket of rural-tribal women to ensure regular and increased flow of income (i.e. tamarind, chironjee, custard apple, drum-stick, gooseberry, mahua, cashew nuts) along with lac
Promote entrepreneur /producer group led micro-enterprises in the value chains to ensure primary value addition
Promotion of brood farms is must for sustainable lac production
Convergence with government schemes for construction of poultry/goat shed and improved feeding practices and plantation of host trees
Nutritional sensitive agriculture in addition to hygiene and sanitation which accounts for 40% of expenditure spent on meeting health expenditure.
Link rural-tribal women to financial institutions & various government schemes for long term sustainability.
Functional literacy is crucial for better management of enterprises

9. Way Forward
Strengthen M&E system using mobile applications for real-time review of critical information for decision-making.
Establishment of formal linkage among lac growers, processors/exporters and consumers
Identifying appropriate government schemes, angel investors, CSR schemes to subsidize establishment of primary processing units at village /cluster level
Following ministries will be targeted for specific policy issue:
Ministry of tribal affairs for MSP for NTFPs
Ministry of MSME for processing units
Develop local dialect tuned audio-visuals to disseminate the key messages along with the functional literacy programme
Strengthen model for building capacity of other NGOs and CBOs in enterprise development