TGT

Introduction:

The concept of The Goat Trust and the Pashu Sakhi model traces back to the early experiences of Founding Trustee Shri Sanjeev Kumar during his tenure with PRADAN (Professional Assistance for Development Action) in Rajasthan in 1998. While working on dairy-based livelihoods, certain field experiences highlighted the potential of goat-based livelihoods for rural communities.

Initially, Kumar was involved in promoting self-help groups (SHGs) and linking them with banks for financial intermediation, alongside initiating dairy-based livelihoods. However, it soon became evident that dairy-based livelihoods posed significant challenges for the poor in dryland and drought-prone areas. Due to recurring droughts, the productivity of dairy cows plummeted, making their maintenance costs unaffordable for poor women farmers.

In contrast, goats owned by the target farmers thrived, producing more than a liter of milk per day at just 25% of the input cost required for dairy cows. Women consistently reported that goats were low-cost animals that could be managed well even in drought conditions. However, they also highlighted major issues with disease susceptibility and mortality rates among goats.

Role in Udyamini

The Goat Trust (TGT) collaborates with Udyamini to empower women through sustainable livestock-based livelihoods. Udyamini provides training and resources to women in rural areas to raise goats, improving income and nutrition. The Goat Trust supports by offering expertise in goat farming, facilitating access to markets, and ensuring best practices in animal husbandry. Together, they enhance economic stability and self-reliance for women, fostering community development and resilience through livestock entrepreneurship.

AIF

The American India Foundation (AIF) is committed to improving the lives of India’s underprivileged—with a special focus on women, children, and youth—through high-impact interventions in education, livelihoods, and public health. Founded in 2001 in the aftermath of the Gujarat earthquake with the endorsement of then-President Bill Clinton and Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, AIF designs bold solutions to complex problems for communities that most need it. With offices in New York and California, its initiatives foster broad engagement across government, NGOs, communities, and experts to drive transformation at scale. With poverty alleviation and gender equity as guiding principles, AIF has positively impacted over 18.8 million lives across 35 states and union territories.

Through the Udyamini-Rural Women Entrepreneurship program, AIF collaborates with partner organizations to address the low Female Labor Force Participation Rate (FLFPR) in rural Assam and West Bengal region. The program aims to foster an entrepreneurial mindset among women and promote women’s entrepreneurship as a pathway to economic empowerment.

Headquartered in Delhi, the American India Foundation Trust (AIFT) coordinates the tea value chain in Assam, serving as the program’s secretariat. The program focuses on empowering women small tea growers (STGs) in Assam, aiming for growth and upward mobility for rural women entrepreneurs.

The Udyamini RWE program endeavors to establish innovative enterprises involving 1000 women from small tea grower households across 20 clusters in Assam. These Rural Women Entrepreneurs (RWEs) will engage in cultivating, manufacturing, and marketing traceable, chemical-free, handcrafted green tea. The program supports setting up sustainable home-based processing units, promoting regenerative agriculture practices, developing business plans, and assisting in marketing the tea.

By intervening in the Tea Value Chain, the Udyamini-RWE program seeks to create a positive impact, empowering rural women and transforming lives and the tea landscape in Assam.

CEC

Introduction: 

The Centre for Education and Communication (CEC), a non-profit labour resource centre founded in 1983, is dedicated to upholding the rights and enhancing the dignity and power of labourers and small producers. Over the past four decades, CEC has engaged with various industries, including garment, tea, bamboo, brick kiln, handloom, leather, stone, automotive, and fisheries. The organization focuses on critical issues such as occupational safety and health, child labour, migration, decent work, women’s rights at work, social security for workers, just transition, and the promotion of sustainable livelihoods.

The current ecosystem presents significant potential for policy efforts and scheme linkages. However, access to these support interventions for rural women is often fragmented, hindered by structural barriers entrenched in gender bias. Strengthening village systems, bringing available linkages to grassroots women’s collectives, and revisiting entrepreneurial policies crafted for women in light of their effectiveness for rural geographies is crucial.

Role in Udyamini

Centre for Education and Communication (CEC) launched a 4-year initiative in Assam-“Building Sustainable Rural Women Entrepreneurs in Handloom Value Chain”, as part of the Udyamini- Rural Women Entrepreneurs Collaborative. Through this initiative, CEC seeks to enhance the capabilities of Rural  Women Entrepreneurs (RWEs) in the handloom value chain through a hands-on approach, providing tailored guidance and assistance at the village level across different stages of their business such as introducing value-added production and exposure to market and financial linkages. These would be further supported by imparting stage-wise business management skills, digital skills and introduction to clean technology solutions for enhanced productivity.

DEF

Introduction:

Founded in 2002, the Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF) works to empower marginalized communities by providing digital capacity, access, and rights, with a focus on women and adolescents. Over the past 20 years, DEF has reached over 5 million people, offering solutions, services, training, skilling, and livelihood opportunities through a cadre of 10,000 digital foot soldiers. Operating in 2,000 locations across 135 districts in 24 states, DEF’s notable programs include Wireless for Communities, which trains rural women as barefoot engineers to maintain wireless infrastructure, and the World Bank-recognized SoochnaPreneur model for women.

A significant challenge in enhancing the Female Labour Force Participation Rate (FLFPR) in India, particularly in Assam and West Bengal, is the untapped potential of rural women entrepreneurs (RWEs). Despite their involvement in key value chains, the lack of access to digital technology and resources hinders their progress. DEF addresses this barrier by establishing sustained mechanisms for last-mile technology support.

Role in Udyamini:

The Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF) collaborates with Udyamini to empower rural women by integrating digital tools into their livelihoods. 

Through this partnership, DEF provides digital literacy training and access to technology, enabling women to leverage digital platforms for business, development, financial management, and market access. DEF also facilitates online marketing and e-commerce solutions, helping Udyamini participants sell their products and services beyond local markets. By incorporating ICT (Information and Communication Technology) in traditional practices, DEF enhances productivity, connectivity, and financial inclusion. This initiative not only boosts the women’s income and entrepreneurial skills but also bridges the digital divide, fostering a digitally inclusive environment that supports sustainable socio-economic growth in rural communities.

SELCO

Introduction:

SELCO has pioneered the delivery of sustainable energy to India’s poor, creating assets and alleviating long-term poverty. These energy-driven solutions increase incomes and improve the quality of life.

SELCO advocates for an end-user centric, demand-driven approach to ecosystem building, resulting in long-term, replicable interventions. This approach fosters a fertile environment for sustainable energy access solutions and encourages local ownership with minimal external dependencies, promoting a holistic and decentralized development model.

Since its inception, SELCO Foundation has focused on creating and strengthening the ecosystem for last-mile energy solutions for the poor across diverse contexts.

Role in Udyamini

SELCO Foundation partners with Udyamini to provide sustainable energy solutions that enhance women’s livelihoods in rural areas. They integrate solar energy systems into Udyamini’s goat-rearing and agriculture programs, ensuring reliable power for water pumps, cold storage, and lighting. This collaboration improves productivity, reduces operational costs, and facilitates value addition to agricultural produce. SELCO Foundation also offers training on maintaining solar equipment and optimizing energy use. By making clean energy accessible and affordable, SELCO and Udyamini jointly enhance economic opportunities for women, promote environmental sustainability, and contribute to resilient, energy-secure communities.

SwitchON

Introduction: 

Founded in 2008, the Environment Conservation Society (ECS), also known as SwitchON Foundation, is a nonprofit dedicated to equitable and sustainable development. ECS promotes ecosystems for clean energy, climate-smart agriculture, conservation, integrated management of natural resources, just transition, skilling, clean air, and sustainable cities. Driven by the vision of a sustainable and equitable India, ECS aims to create opportunities for 10 million people at the bottom of the pyramid by 2030 through innovative business models and technologies.

Over the past 16 years, ECS has led 70 innovative projects and incubated ventures in renewable energy access, agriculture and livelihoods, skilling, and environment and climate change. This includes the promotion of three social ventures, over 60 farmer producer companies, and support for establishing over 500 microenterprises. Notably, ECS spun off its first enterprise, ONergy Solar, in 2010 to provide decentralized energy solutions to underserved areas. In 2015, ONganic Foods was launched to promote organic agriculture, and in 2017, ONskills was established to incubate green entrepreneurs.

Role in Udyamini

SwitchON Foundation, as part of Udyamini, comes under the coalition of partners to empower and strengthen Rural Women Entrepreneurs (RWEs) in West Bengal. The foundation aims to impact 2500 RWEs across agriculture and textile value chains, with 350 RWEs in service and business entrepreneurship ultimately setting up their enterprises towards the end of the four years. In the agriculture domain, the focus will be on Paddy and Horticulture in the Hanskhali, and Haringhata blocks of Nadia district, and Millets in Hura and Jhalda II blocks of Purulia district. For the agri and allied and silk handloom value chain, the focus is on two blocks namely Sonamukhi and Patrasayer respectively in the Bankura district, along with the Shantipur block of Nadia district.