ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT
Samanvita Program
Introduction
Samanvita is a Sanskrit word meaning inclusion and women empowerment. The programme is designed on the intersection between livelihood, menstrual hygiene, women empowerment, and community development. The Founder started working on the programme by organizing community meetings and awareness campaigns through online and offline mediums regarding public health and menstrual hygiene. Post the awareness generation, underprivileged women from the local areas are trained and employed in a biodegradable sanitary pad manufacturing unit for sustainable livelihood. The program aims to reach out to disadvantaged sections of society and provide them with livelihood opportunities in a sustainable manner.
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Goa being one of the top tourist destinations in India, the foundation is currently focusing on building linkages with local farmers markets, hotel industry and restaurants to exhibit and sell the products conceptualised, designed, and produced by rural women. This not only will increase the sale but will also motivate them to maintain quality and consistently improve based on customer feedback. The core component of the program is to go beyond production and support rural groups with market connectivity. It ensures that the customers are aware of the products, quality is maintained and branding of the product for rural as well as urban populations. Consequently, the pricing is maintained to ensure that the product can be accessible to the rural as well as the urban population of the country along with generating profits for the rural women to support their financial freedom. The foundation considers benefits as the intersection between monetary benefits and Social Return on Investment. Post our production process the foundation focuses on promoting the products through online and offline mediums. The Place includes the source of raw materials, target customers and market area. Currently, the foundation is focusing on raising CSR Funds to train more women, expand the production unit and increase sales through various channels.
Pilgaon Project:
On 2nd October 2019, a cleanliness drive was taken up in Pilgao village in Goa. The drive was conducted in collaboration with Pilagao Sports and Pilgao Yuvak Kala Manch to deliver the message of cleanliness and mobilise the community for the inauguration ceremony of the Pilgaon project. Moreover, a space for running the manufacturing unit was rented in Pilgaon and all preparatory arrangements for installation of the machine were completed in September 2019. Installation of sanitary pad unit was completed on the 15th October 2019. Along with the installation, all necessary approvals, and permissions for running the unit were sought from village panchayat, health, and the electricity department.
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The project was inaugurated on 20th October 2019 by Shri Shripad Naik, Hon’ble Minister of State (Independent Charge) for AYUSH, Government of India in the presence of Chairperson, Zilla Parishad (District Council), Sarpanch (Chairperson) and elected representatives of the village panchayat. Hon’ble Minister appreciated the Samanvita program for empowering communities in remote areas with a promise to support the program under MPLADS (Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme) of the Government of India to replicate the project in other villages.
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Post the ceremony- a meeting was held between the Hon'ble Minister and Pilgaon Sports Club to plan various interventions for developing Pilgaon as a clean and "Smart" village. The Hon’ble Minister also promised financial support for building a cultural centre – cum – library in the village.
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After the inauguration ceremony, fifteen women from the village were selected in consultation with the SHG federation for their prospective employers in the project. The training and orientation of the selected women to manufacture sanitary pads started and the pads manufactured at the unit were tested for quality assurance and customer satisfaction. Based on the feedback received, the design and material of pads were customized and upgraded further. After completion of training for the selected women, the unit commenced production of sanitary pads for sale. Samanvita program has been implemented in Pilgaon village of north Goa district by the funding support of Tulip Diagnostics Pvt. Ltd. under its CSR budget. The program has developed synergies with village panchayat, local sports clubs, and citizens to achieve program objectives. The project is designed in partnership and consultation with the local population, thus developing a sense of partnership and ownership of the beneficiaries.
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The community mobilization and engagement of women from the community in making biodegradable sanitary pads help in raising awareness on public health and menstrual hygiene in marginalized sections of society. Furthermore, this reduces the taboo about menstrual hygiene. Underprivileged women are trained and employed in a biodegradable sanitary pad manufacturing unit. The project provides an effective tool to develop the skills and capacity of women from economically weaker sections of society as even illiterate women can be employed to run the manufacturing unit with one week of training. Different stages of the project starting from the procurement of raw material, production, sales, and promotional activities were monitored to ensure the quality and finishing of the product matches standards. Various activities are conducted to grow understanding of and discourse about menstruation. We aim to work towards shifting structural response for the issue and identifying approaches that address the social, cultural, economic, political, or environmental factors that have an impact on population health.
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The success story of the pilot project of the Samanvita program this year has given a ray of hope to the SHGs in Goa. SHGs and social entrepreneurs from across the state have approached Ubantu Foundation for its support in identifying appropriate livelihood opportunities and corresponding market - linkages. In addition to it, Ubantu Foundation is planning to launch an awareness campaign on public health and menstruation in colleges and the SHG community across Goa which will bring more visibility to the Pilgaon project.
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During the lock-down period, the team at Ubantu engaged women in the Pilgaon project to make sanitary pads and distributed them to the needy population in the vicinity. As the programme focuses on developing women as a voice for social change, they also raised awareness on COVID precautionary guidelines.
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Simultaneously, a sewing centre was started at the Pilgaon unit to up-cycle wastage raw materials and use them to produce various products such as cushions, pillows, frocks, handkerchiefs, grocery bags etc. The women in the project decide the next line of the products, and a soap making, pickle and pappad making unit is installed too. Simultaneously, Ubantu foundation started a sewing project at the Pilgaon unit to up-cycle wastage raw materials and use it as a filling material to make cushions and pillows. In addition to it, we are also training women from the village to make cloth bags, grocery bags, frocks, and handkerchiefs for the local market. The team travelled to various places and met social entrepreneurs to explore the availability of natural fabric and compostable options for making other items.
Program Components
Continuing the work of developing market linkages for the products, the Ubantu Foundation secured two stalls in the Cooperative Week Fair organised at the NCUI campus in Delhi. This helped in getting women groups acquainted with the liking and requirements of urban population. In addition, getting an understanding of metropolitan market helped them in improving their quality, design and production capacities. Moreover, majority of the women in the group have never visited Delhi, so setting up a stall at NCUI helped me them improve their confidence and built a sense of competition with other groups working in the same area. Lastly, this helped them network with other women groups, NGOs and artisans from across the country, thus, increasing their understanding of the market.
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The products by Ubantu Foundation received appreciation from various artisans and therefore, their product is displayed at NCUI Haat– an exhibition cum sales platform of National Cooperative Union of India.
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Supporting SHGs in Delhi Ubantu Foundation supported eight SHGs in Delhi to start soap making business in June, 2023. The SHGs had got bulk order of 7000 handmade soaps from National Cooperative Union of India. They worked day and night to complete work in less than a week. Ubantu Foundation supported these SHGs by providing funds for purchasing raw materials. The soaps were included in the
Projects with GIZ India
1. Consultancy Support to NCUI, Delhi: The Foundation was engaged by German Development Cooperation (GIZ, India) to provide consultancy services to National Cooperative union of India for undertaking research work on cooperative development and entrepreneurship.
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2. Consultancy Support for Documentation of Demonstrated Cases under MNREGA, Uttar Pradesh: Ubantu Foundation was engaged by GIZ, India to work with the Panchayti raj department of Government of Uttar Pradesh to document success stories under MNREGA scheme.
Workshops
Workshop on Photography for Boatmen in Varanasi
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Ubantu Foundation organised a Photography Workshop in collaboration with NIKON company for the students and youth of fishermen community at Assi Ghat in Varanasi. The training in photography skills through smart phone and camera will help them in capturing better quality photos for their tourist clients.
Supporting fishermen community in Sarai Mohana, Varanasi The Director had initiated a project in Sarai Mohana colony in Varanasi in November, 2021. A majority of the people living in Sarai Mohana colony are fishermen who have been traditionally involved in fishing business. The Director visited many times to interact with the women who are largely employed and looking for livelihood opportunities. Many of the women who participated in meetings showed keen interest to start stitching business. Some of them were skilled in sewing work and had their own stitching machines too.
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Workshop on Career Planning and opportunities in development sector in Bellary, Karnataka
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A lecture on “Career Planning and Opportunities in Development Sector” was organised by the Department of Political Science, Vijaynagar Sri Krishnadevaraya University in Bellary on 27th November, 2019. Mr. Sumit, Director Ubantu Foundation was invited as the guest lecturer to interact with the students about the role of the development sector in equitable economic growth. During the lecture, he talked aboutthe various career opportunities available for the students in development sector.
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Visit to The Kishkinda Trust, Hampi, Karnataka
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The Kishkinda Trust (TKT) was established at Anegundi of Hampi UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997 with a vision of securing the future of the cultural landscape and community through promotion of cultural industries and creative economies based on locally available resources. We believe that conservation and business incubation can help in socio-economic development of a community. TKT assists local communities of Anegundi, a historic settlement across Tungabhadra river from Hampi, at the grassroots level to help build capacity to maintain business incubators and conserve their historical heritage.
The director went to a two day visit to Hampi on the invitation of TKT to study the various livelihood projects being run by the organization to support local communities. TKT focuses intensively on improving their economic conditions and quality of life by engaging and empowering the local communities through various multi – disciplinary projects and undertaken capacity building of communities across fields such as architectural conservation, heritage restoration, crafts and design, hospitality and management, education through performing arts and markets and festivals, so that their lives are nurtured, enriched and empowered by their own culture and identities.
Supporting needy communities in Chhattisgarh
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Sumit Singh went to Raipur on 18th November, 2020 on the invitation of Directorate of Sainik Welfare, Chhattisgarh to explore potential livelihood options for wives of martyrs of Indian Armed forces. I spent two weeks in Raipur to interact with retired soldiers and their families along with families - of martyred soldiers to understand their aspirations and their capacity to take up new sources of livelihoods. In addition to this, I also visited two villages of Raipur to meet women self-help groups who were engaged by village panchayat for procurement of cowdung and preparing vermi-compost under Godhan Nyay Yojana of the state government. In both the villages, I addressed a gathering of elected representatives and women self-help groups to explain the procedure of making vermi-compost and other products out of the cow dung procured from the people.
On 17th December, 2020, I reached Pithaura Block of Mahasamund district to meet Rajim Didi who has been working closely with tribal community through her social organization named Adivasi Kalyan Manch. She explained to me in detail about the work done by her organization in giving land rights to the tribal community in villages across Baloda Bazar and nearby districts. I stayed in Kasdol tehsil of Baloda Bazar districtfor two days and had meetings with SHGs and other women in Chanhaat village in and other villlages. During the visits, I got an opportunity to experience the rich biodiversity of the area.
During the visit to villages, I got to know that villages in Kasdol tehsil have faced large scale of migration of youth to metro cities for work. All the villages visited during the trip are forest villages with abundant natural resources and fertile soil. Because of illiteracy and lack of exposure to outside world, many of the villagers sell their agriculture and forest produce at lower price. Through the state government has come out with many welfare schemes for providing livelihoods, tribal people have not been able to take benefit of those schemes due to lack of knowledge and skills. Women in some villages have come together and formed self-help groups. However, they have still not been trained to start new businesses. There are many local artisans skilled in weaving and making products out of bamboo and other forest products who need market linkages to sell the product. In addition to this, open defecation is a big issue in all the villages. Most of the houses do not have toilets which leads to health issues and pollution of environment.​​​​​​​
E-dialogue on ‘Role of Cooperatives in Strengthening Rural Economy
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An e-dialogue on 'Role of Cooperatives in strengthening Rural Economy' was organized by Ubantu Foundation in collaboration with National Cooperative Union of India on the eve of the International Day on Cooperatives today. The program was chaired by Dr. Sudhir Mahajan, Chief Executive, NCUI and many renowned experts from across India presented their views. Shri Sajith Sukumaran, Chief Operating Officer of Kudumbashree program in government of Kerala explained the women centric initiatives taken under the scheme and how it has helped to empower women from underprivileged sections of society.
Dr. Ranjit Kumar, Head-Agribusiness department of National Agricultural Research Management, Hyderabad highlighted the need for capacity building measures at all levels of Cooperatives and making the farming business profitable in sustainable manner. Dr. Ramanjaneyulu, Executive Director, Centre for Sustainable Agriculture explained the natural farming initiative supported by Government of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana to support both economy and ecology. Hemant Chavan Ji, a close associate of Padma Shri Subhash Palekar and a natural farming expert from Nagpur talked about how 'Nagpur Naturals' model has been successful in development of farmer associations and providing a market to their produce locally. Shri Gopi Sankara from Navadarshanam Trust in Bangalore talked about how they have been able to empower local farmers by building market linkages for their organic products. Shri Sarvanan from Barefoot Academy of Governance, Tamil Nadu highlighted the problems of farmers and stressed on the need to build trust among the stakeholders for reviving agriculture sector. Rupesh Rai, Founder, Green People community in Uttarakhand explained his village centric economic model through eco-tourism and natural farming. V Swaminathan from Tamil Nadu spoke about the initiative of Organic Farmer Association of India to support cotton farmers and promoting cultivation of indigenous seeds.
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Ms. Talu Devi, Founder, Meira Foods, Imphal shared her story about her all women enterprise and how they are supporting women from across Manipur through food processing business.In his address as Chairperson of the program, Dr. Sudhir Mahajan Ji congratulated Ubantu Foundation for organizing such a fruitful interaction with experts and professionals working with farmers and cooperatives and thanked all speakers for their valuable inputs and suggestions. He also stressed on the need to adopt innovative measures to support farming community and assured the audience that NCUI will take all possible measures to build linkages with progressive organizations and entrepreneurs for a better future. Shri Sumit Singh, Director of Ubantu Foundation and Convener of the program thanked the Chairperson, speakers, research scholars, social workers and all other delegates for their active participation.