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LEAD (Livelihood & Enterprise Development) Programme

In continuation with FWWB's consistent efforts at empowering poor women in India through financial support as well as support for innovations, we have launched a pilot project for Livelihoods and Enterprise Development (henceforth called the LEAD Project), for providing support to small enterprises, both by providing finance and business development services like skill and entrepreneurship training, backward and forward linkages, financial planning etc. The support would be provided both for farm and non-farm activities as well as for both cluster and individual lending approaches. The objective of the pilot is to set up a livelihoods and enterprise fund which can cater to larger demands of funds in this sector. The fund was set up to encourage the partner organizations to look at creating or encouraging options that create more income and hence reduce the vulnerability of the poor. This fund has been set up with the help of Citigroup. The fund looks at providing support for meeting slightly larger loans and also groups looking at micro enterprises and other Income generating activities.

LEAD is supporting four organizations involved in multitude of activities like handicrafts, producer companies involved in NTFP, handicraft market linkage program, and organizations involved in providing social security for clients.

LEAD Partner Organizations (October, 2007)

LEAD Project UPDATE (October, 2007)

Till now FWWB has partnered with four organizations under the LEAD project. OASiS (Organization for Awareness of Integrated Social Security), CFM (Community Friendly Movement), Khamir CRC (Craft Resource Center) & Sammaan Foundation.

1. OASiS - OASiS is an organization working in Betul district of Madhya Pradesh in promoting community based and managed Social Security System for rural tribal population. OASiS is the brainchild of Mr. Pradeep K.Ghosh, who was awarded ASHOKA fellowship for conceptualizing this intervention. Visit OASiS

2. CFM - CFM is based in New Delhi. It works with artisan communities across India and links them with buyers from India and abroad. It eliminates multiple layers of middle men in the supply chain resulting to better price realization for the grassroot artisan. CFM is a fair trade partner and it ensures full transparency and accountability of the margin generated at different stages of the chain. It ensures that the community working with them are being provided apropriate working conditions.

CFM has recently started retail sales of its products through various lifestyle chain/malls. It has aggressive plans to make available its products through 1000 retail outlets in the cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, pune, Hyderabad and Chennai. Visit CFM

3. Khamir CRC (Craft Resource Center) - Khamir was created post earthquake of Bhuj, Gujarat. Its goal is to revitalize and strengthen the artisan and handicraft communities affected by the calamity. Khamir CRC focuses to strengthen the various craft sectors through enhanced access to a range of resources viz; design intervention, trade facilitation, working capital infusion, training and skill upgradation.

Initially the sole focus of Khamir was to reinstate the communities in their traditional craft post quake. Now it is moving towards the next progressive phase of collaborating with the large institutional buyers and hence tap larger markets for its communities. Visit Khamir

4. Sammaan Foundation - Sammaan Foundation is registered as a non-profit company which is working towards providing sustainable livelihood for the rickshaw pullers in the city of Patna, India. These rickshaw pullers are mainly from the rural areas of Bihar and they work as wage laborers. Their income level is very low and the vehicle are outdated models with minimal technological intervention, leading to occupational health hazard.

The foundation is led by two young management graduates from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A) and a technocrat from Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT-Kanpur).

Sammaan Foundation is organizing the rickshaw pullers under a new company which will be owned by them. the company has redesigned the rickshaw so that it is convenient for both pullers as well as passengers.

Apart from the fare for ride more revenue streams has been added viz; corporate advertisement on the outer side of the vehicle, value added services to passengers such as mineral water bottle, newspaper etc.