Fields of Possibility: Kabita’s Lemongrass Odyssey

In the quaint village of Brahmapura, nestled within the verdant landscapes of Cuttack district, Odisha, resides Kabita Dalabehera — a woman whose life weaves a tapestry of determination and transformation. Her humble abode is shared with her devoted husband, a son, and a daughter, as they navigate their existence upon the vast expanse of their ancestral 5-acre domain. Within this area, 3 acres are devoted to the nurturing of paddy crops and the remaining 2.5 acres remain unused.

Kabita’s life underwent a remarkable transformation with the establishment of the IMEDF-SFURTI Banki Aromatic Cluster in close proximity. Spearheaded by the Indian Micro Enterprises Development Foundation (IMEDF), which functions as a specialized entity under the Development Alternatives Group, this cluster serves as a Nodal Agency for the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries (SFURTI). Through IMEDF’s efforts, over 1000 farmers from Brahmapura village were successfully brought together to establish a thriving lemongrass cluster.

She discovered the world of lemongrass farming through the cluster’s initiatives. With training in lemongrass cultivation, she decided to utilise her idle land for this purpose, which brought in additional income for her family.

Through the cluster’s support, Kabita received farm machineries such as a lemongrass cutter, water pump, and spray pump. These machines made her farming activities more efficient and reduced labour costs.

Not content with solely cultivating lemongrass, Kabita underwent product development training to create value-added products. She began making lemongrass incense cones and sticks at the cluster’s Common Facility Centre. Branded as Swarna Priya, these products generated a monthly income of INR 6000 for Kabita, adding up to INR 1,20,000 annually. The revenue earned from these products was shared among 1,756 farmers, including 709 women.

Kabita’s success didn’t stop there. She became an inspiration to the women in her village’s Self-Help Groups, encouraging them to embrace lemongrass cultivation as well.

Kabita Dalabehera’s story is one of resilience and resourcefulness. Through her efforts, she transformed her family’s income by utilizing unused land, embracing modern farming techniques, and creating value-added products. Her journey not only impacted her own life but also inspired other women in her community to explore new opportunities.

Orchha’s Prabha has been on a search to find her true calling, her passion. She began this journey when she joined Sakshi FPO to set up and manage a spice processing business in a nearby village. The business did well-selling turmeric, chillies, and coriander among others locally but she still felt a void. A few members of the FPO left to start their own ventures around like kirana stores in their respective villages. She felt that this business would be better suited for her and her family. Her husband and her two sons have been supportive of her dreams and she felt that this enterprise would give her the flexibility of working from home instead of going out of her village.

Her business did well initially but soon the opportunities became strained as many new kiranas also started to drive the competition up. She along with a few other women entrepreneurs thought of combining their resources and setting up a collective enterprise. They established a Self Help Group (SHG) and contacted TARAgram which helped sharpen their business skills. The SHG initially moved with much gusto but many members lost their steam and dropped off and stopped attending the meetings. This proved to be an issue when applying for a loan with the bank. The SHG ultimately collapsed in 2019 as members started to lose interest.

Looking for a fresh start at the beginning of 2020 she chanced upon Namaste Orchha — a tourism promotion festival — and its special scheme for women-led e-rickshaws. Liking the idea a lot, she joined the program. She underwent an immersive 15-day training under the scheme where she learnt about traffic rules, talking to customers, and finally riding an e-rickshaw. After the successful completion of the training she was rewarded with a driving license. Her business skills came in handy in helping her make her new business profitable and responding to any new challenges.

Since then, she has become a local hero to many women in Orchha with many other women entrepreneurs coming forward to drive e-rickshaws. Orchha being a tourist town has ample opportunities in terms of commuting with tourists looking for quick and easy modes of transport between the many beautiful locales of Orchha. Recently the local administration of Orchha has mandated that the preferred mode of transportation near the historical fort area and temple is e-rickshaw, with tempos mandated to provide transportation outside of the city gates. This proactive approach has made the women run e-rickshaw much more visible in Prabha’s town. Prabha goes on to say that since she has started to drive the e-rickshaw her confidence in her abilities has increased and she has a sense of accomplishment.

When you come to Harishankar’s village of Asati in Niwari, Bundelkhand you are greeted by the freshly painted bright red walls of his shop. Sitting inside, Harishankar is hard at work designing the banners that he will hang outside. On his system, he has opened a photo editor and envisioned how his shop should look to the world passing by.

Harishankar’s love for technology began early. His father had an electrical repair shop and as a child, he would often play with the old broken electrical items. After he graduated from school, he helped his father with his business. Tinkering with machines, his father pushed him to explore new opportunities. He decided to open a photography studio in his village as there were none. Through the DA led Work4Progress India program, he received guidance in marketing his services. Soon, he also became a videographer and became an indispensable part of local festivities and celebrations. Harishankar employs part-time workers during seasonal demand in the market. With time and demand, he added new services such as videography and now has become an indispensable part of festivities and celebrations, often capturing important community moments through his lens.

Sensing new opportunities, he further ventured into cyberspace and started to offer computer-related services such as printing, photocopying, or just accessing the internet. This led him to try for the Common Service Centre exam and become an enabler for other village-level entrepreneurs. With his CSC, he has bridged the gap his community faced in availing of government services and schemes.

Forever having an eye for opportunity, he broadcast local events and cricket matches organised by the local panchayats on his Youtube channel at Harishankar Studio and has been growing his online presence.

Launched in 2017 in India by Development Alternatives, and supported by “la Caixa” Foundation, Work4Progress (W4P) aims to promote ‘inclusive entrepreneurship’, a phenomenon that is characterized by the systemic change that enables under-represented groups such as youth and women to access entrepreneurship opportunities, thereby leading to social inclusion, quality employment, and sustainable economic growth.

What does Empowerment mean to Inclusive Entrepreneurship?

Inclusive entrepreneurship is “a phenomenon that is characterized by systemic change in which under-represented people are able to access entrepreneurship opportunities and secure livelihoods, thereby leading to enhanced social inclusion and sustainable economic growth”.(1)

For Development Alternatives and its approach to inclusive entrepreneurship, empowerment is systemic change in the entrepreneurial ecosystem that enables an individual to be aware of and confident in one’s abilities and more importantly, to act upon these abilities. It is encouraging to see that lately people are turning to entrepreneurship as a choice and not a last resort. According to Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) Report 21–22, India’s entrepreneurial activity expanded in 2021, with its Total Entrepreneurial Activity rate(percentage of adults (aged 18–64) who are starting or running a new business) increased to 14.4% in 2021, up from 5.3% in 2020.(2)

Inclusive entrepreneurship empowers people to take their future into their own hands, whether through self-employment or by creating employment for others which in ripple effects create a local ecosystem or what we call micromovements of change to unleash and sustain entrepreneurial energies.

Meet Lilawati-Canteen Contractor at DC Office, Palwal

Lilawati, is one such empowered woman who channeled her passion of cooking to make a livelihood, not only for herself but also nine other women in her village. A resident of village Rehrana, Haryana, Lilawati is famous within her community for her delicious recipes. She lives with her husband, their daughter and her mother in law. Her unique ways of cooking flavorful food garnered her praises from her family and beyond. Her house being situated near the community fields, it was common to expect people to go in and out of her house to stop for the usual conversation which would then lead to a cup of tea, a plate of snacks and sometimes even dinner. The taste of her home-cooked food would invoke happy memories among her guests long after they ate it.

As her daughter started school, Lilawati began to consider avenues to supplement her family’s income. It became clear for her that her passion and flair in cooking could be capitalized. She gathered courage to earn a livelihood through her passion, on the pillars of encouraging praise and trust that was shared with her. She set up a small food station at home, taking orders from the community and preparing food for them on demand, generating a monthly income of INR 2,000–3,000. However, orders began to decline after a few months as she realized that the local market for home-cooked food was stagnant.

Lilawati was part of a Self Help Group associated with National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM), Palwal, a partner with the Development Alternatives initiated program HSBC Entrepreneurship for Empowerment (EE) . It was during a training workshop on capacity building that Lilwati’s desire to start her catering business emerged. Through the program, Lilawati leveraged the power of networking and found out about a canteen contract at the Deputy Commissioner’s (Mini Secretariat) office in Palwal. She applied for it and won the contract in March 2021 amongst other bidders. She brought together nine other women from her village to build her team and start her catering business.

Her empowering story from a home cook to an established caterer has resonated with people and can often be heard narrated in the ecru colored corridors of the government building . During the pandemic, Lilawati also started using digital platforms like Phonepe and Paytm for daily transactions. When we asked her what is the best selling item on the canteen menu, she said

“Garmiyon ki dauran, Jeera Lassi hit hai aur aloo paratha toh waise hi hamesha demand mein rehte hai” (Jeera Lassi is a hit during the summers , while Aloo paratha is always a classic). Lilawati and her team work till 4 in the afternoon and head back to their respective homes to shoulder other familial responsibilities.

Today, Lilawati serves as an inspiration to her community by creating microvements of change towards monetising one’s passion and daring to dream big. This is not only the story of Lilawati but also that of how one’s women’s empowerment opened up the doors for nine other women to become independent and earn a living.

We are very happy to share that Lilawati’s canteen contract renewed this March for another year.

References:

1. Patara, S., Verma, K. & Chopra, V. (2021, January). State of India’s Livelihood Report 2020. ACCESS Development Services.

2. Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Report 21–22- gemconsortium.org. (n.d.). Retrieved May 05, 2022, from https://www.gemconsortium.org/file/open?fileId=50900

A traditional clay potter, Ajay Kumar Prajapati had left Dhaurupur village, Mirzapur nine years ago as a 23-year-old, in search of better opportunities for his pottery craft and to support his family as the only breadwinner at the time. He sold his craft along with a few fellow potters in the streets of Kolkata.

The nationwide lockdown in March 2020 left no option for Ajay but to return home. Ajay had become one of the many migrant workers who became jobless overnight. He decided to stay with his family while continuing to make clay utensils and pots for the local community.

After joining the Development Alternatives led Work4Progress program supported by ”la Caixa” Foundation, the capacity building sessions over time enabled him to enhance his existing marketing skills. He then decided to scale his production from home. Through the program, Ajay connected with Khadi Gram Udyog and acquired an electric chaak (electric pottery wheel) for his enterprise, speeding upthe process. He also employed one person to assist him in his work.

He saw the market potential for kulhads(earthen teacups) in his hometown because of the mass consumption of tea in public spaces. He now manufactures 2000–2500 pieces of clay kulhads a day. He sells these clay kulhads in bulk to ten tea stalls in Mirzapur, while simultaneously selling his products at retail price in his village. A creative artisan, he also makes thalis, pots, religious idols and small toys to cater to various customers. He also caters to customised products.

Ajay believes that the youth of today can leverage the power of networking to set up their enterprise. He comments that the traditional art of pottery is fading away quickly. With more youth looking for jobs, he shares “I want to teach more people about the art of pottery, and try to pass my knowledge to others.” He plans to slowly scale up the production of his enterprise and invest in two more machines so that he can both train and also employ more people.

The next time you are in Mirzapur and stop by a tea stall, you might be drinking tea from a kulhad Ajay made!

A mug can change your life!

Sachin was a second year B.Tech graduate with aspirations to run his own business. He had received a personalised mug as a gift from a friend which fascinated him enough to make him realise there was no sublimation printing shop in Bundelkhand. The idea then struck him to provide a customised product service in his hometown. In October 2020, he set up his enterprise Maa Sharda Sublimation Printing Gallery.

From printing customised mugs, he expanded his service base to printed t-shirts, key chains, and cushions. Finding a viable market for his products, he planned to scale the variety in his products by offering customised phone covers. He bought a mobile cover printing machine which was leveraged through a loan from a Micro Credit Facility with support from the Work4Progress program led by Development Alternatives and supported by ”la Caixa” Foundation .

Sachin attended online Regional Enterprise Coalitions (RECs) during the pandemic giving him the opportunity to network with different entrepreneurs and stakeholders working around entrepreneurship. Today, he markets his products on e-commerce platforms Amazon India, Flipkart, Etsy and Meesho which has increased his business manifold. His enterprise receives around 50–100 orders monthly and with this expansion in business, Sachin has employed one person to assist him. Sachin’s enterprise mostly caters to bulk orders from schools and other educational institutions in his village where his products are in high demand due to the customisation it provides.

The #futureofwork looks promising with young entrepreneurs like Sachin creating a micromovement of change in their communities through e-commerce.

Watch his video on our Instagram page @JobsWeMake

Ruby, of Chirgaon, Jhansi, was engaged in farming, and her husband owned a grocery store. Her life revolved around agriculture, but she always had an innate desire to stand out from the crowd. She and her husband together were able to earn just enough to sustain their family of three. In an unfortunate accident, a fire broke down in their grocery store. Despite incurring huge losses, this incident fueled her desire to look for other sources of income, that could not only get her a stable income but also fulfill her aspiration of doing something different from other women in her village.

Initially, Ruby tried her hands on some traditional enterprises, but was unsuccessful at them. She was at the brim of losing her desire for business until she attended an awareness workshop under the Development Alternatives led “Entrepreneurship for Empowerment” program supported by HSBC. Through the network of stakeholders created by the program, she got in touch with officials of NRLM (National Rural Livelihood Mission) who introduced her to the role of a Business Correspondent (BC) Sakhi. Motivated by the idea of such a non-traditional business, she worked hard and received training on basic banking services by RSETI. She received a loan of INR 75,000 and got associated with Fino Bank, receiving a micro ATM machine. She now operates as a village-level BC Sakhi and provides door-to-door financial services to individuals in her village. In the last 2 months alone, she has been able to provide cash withdrawal services amounting to INR 20,000. Today, Ruby proudly claims that entrepreneurship has given her the capacity to provide quality education for her child. By becoming the first woman in the area who is providing financial services, Ruby is a role model for others in her community.

About the program:

The Entrepreneurship for Empowerment project, initiated by Development Alternatives supported by Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) is in the Capitalisation phase to set mechanisms for sustainability, support the communities for strengthening livelihood activities after Covid-19 and also build multiplication and capitalisation tools for mainstreaming the approach. The program has two major objectives — deepening and scaling up the impact through the development of packaged knowledge products and customized support for livelihoods connect. The second objective is to scale-out through enhancement in the range of services and features available on the digital platform developed in the program -udyaME.

Under the equipment support from the project, a water testing kit and weighing machine were provided to enhance the productivity of the farm by decreasing the mortality of poultry birds and fingerlings. Under the project guidance, Neetu started duck farming as the duck’s swimming motions help in enhancing the quality of water in the pond by increasing the dissolved oxygen quantity.

With the help of her elder son, Neetu installed four solar panels to light the farm and power the water pump for the fishery pond. Neetu rears a range of chicken breeds such as Kadaknath, Gramapriya and Sonali, sustaining local diversity of birds whose demand is growing in the market. Her family set up a security camera near the poultry shed due to thefts in the past. In addition to the precautionary measures, each family member takes turns to keep guard by sleeping next to the poultry farm. Neetu shares that the enterprise has brought the entire family together, and their lives have been positively benefited because of the integrated model

Today, with a monthly profit of INR 12,000, Neetu earns eight times more than her last work two years ago and invests the income in her grandchildren’s education. When asked what is her biggest learning from being an entrepreneur , she says, “ You learn that there is no room to entertain second thoughts in business. It emboldens you to be confident in all walks of life”. Neetu plans to expand her IFPE enterprise by setting up a hatchery unit.

About the GAVL IFPE Project:

In order to promote entrepreneurship and create jobs, an innovative model of ‘Integrated Fishery and Poultry Enterprises (IFPE)’ project was supported by the ‘GODREJ AGROVET LIMITED (GAVL)’ and implemented in the geographies of Barabanki, Mirzapur, Bhadohi, Chandauli and Bani village of Uttar Pradesh by Society for Development Alternatives (DA). The total duration of the project was 15 months (December 28th 2020 — March 31st 2022).

The program focused on banking upon the emerging need for poultry and fishery and adopting an integrated model, creating livelihood opportunities specifically for youth and women.

The project also created a robust ecosystem for value added allied models by establishing ancillary enterprises to ensure sustainability as well as replication of the integrated models in the defined geographies.

Jamuna Devi, a resident of Dabka village in Bhadohi, was engaged in supporting her husband in his textile designing work and taking care of her family until the pandemic engulfed her village. The Covid-19 pandemic moved her and made her realize the importance of entrepreneurship. She initially set up a poultry enterprise, influenced by her neighbours. However, a lack of technical information and resources led to huge losses and ultimately shutting down the business. Frisking for more viable opportunities, she approached the Work4Progress team, who motivated her to look for businesses that cater to local needs. Considering that there was no banking and digital service provider in the close vicinity of her village, she decided to look for enterprises in this domain. Upon consulting with the W4P team, she came to know about the Business Correspondent (BC) Sakhi scheme by the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM). She inquired about the processes and financial requirements for the scheme and applied for the same through the government app.

The W4P team connected her to the RSETI (Rural Self Employment Training Institutes) for one-week residential training on basic banking services and helped her to clear the examination on the first attempt. Once qualified, she received financial support of INR 75,000 in August 2021 for purchasing a micro ATM machine with a fingerprint sensor and other sundry expenses to start her enterprise. She spent one month honing her entrepreneurial skills, learning about the banking app and its operations which includes services such as opening bank accounts, cash withdrawals, recharge payments, etc. Once she was equipped with the technical-know how she started marketing her services to nearby villages. Within 1 month of operations, she could easily open 12 bank accounts and earn a commission of INR 5500 on different transactions. As she earns a greater commission for opening bank accounts, she has started offering door-to-door services for account opening and consistently makes villagers aware of the benefits of banking.

In February 2022, Jamuna Devi expanded her business portfolio to start a Common Service Centre, providing a plethora of services such as registration for Aadhar card, PAN card, e-shram card etc., through which she has been able to increase her monthly income by nearly INR 10,000. She also encourages other women to apply for different government schemes and shares her journey from being financially dependent to entrepreneurship. She proudly claims that entrepreneurship has helped her earn respect among family members and the community and enhanced her communication skills.

The way people live in Bundelkhand has transformed radically in the past two decades. This change directly manifests itself in the livelihood options the youth and women now pursue. From a primarily agricultural economy, it is shifting towards a region with a diverse range of opportunities, fuelled by a democratisation of platforms and opportunities for microentrepreneurship. In the 1990s, “karobaar daal dena” and “udyam lagana” were rare phrases in the Bundeli lingo restricted to upper caste men with power and capital. But, in the 1990s, the families who struggled in harvesting enough produce due to scarce water supply and lacked awareness on value addition , are now running their own mini start-ups including those enabled with digital technology to generate new value in the local economies.

A diverse, dynamic economy is a hybrid of not just agriculture and service oriented self-employment but one which provides a multitude of opportunities across sectors, especially in manufacturing and the emerging gig economy, to create more resilient socio-economic structures in the village ecosystem. These structures have demonstrated their resilience during a pandemic by helping mitigate risks around sustainability of revenue and jobs, provide alternatives to migration to cities, and meet the evolving aspirations of young men and women. There is a visible change in the streets of Orchha due to new market formation and aggregation, as it becomes a market hub beyond Jhansi. One of the most pivotal enablers of this transformation is the decentralised access to and exchange of information. With migrants returning with improved awareness from cities, greater mobility in and outside of Bundelkhand, and deepening penetration of smartphones and the internet, the youth of the region are visibly transformed as compared to their parents’ generation. In them, resides new hope and greater self-confidence, to build on their growing awareness and dreams of a future they wish to create.

The dreams of Bundelkhand’s youth are grounded in the region’s roots in agriculture. The young people here hope to build on the ancestral qualities of patience, and coexistence with nature to create new-age economic models to support local economies. Abhineet Parmar is one such microentrepreneur who started a vermicomposting enterprise in January 2021, overcoming great resistance from his parents. The 19 year old winner of the Kaun Banega Business Leader (KBBL) 2020 competition, organised in 20 villages of the region, aspires to employ 3 young people, and earn over INR 360,000 during the next year 2021–22. Abhineet strives to start a biomass energy generation unit within the next three years, to power all households in his surrounding villages. Social innovation tools such as the KBBL have helped initiate shifts in local narratives towards entrepreneurship.

The potential of an economy with diverse opportunities is immense. The traditional households of Bundelkhand which used to rely on direct benefit transfers, livestock farming, and temporary agricultural labour under the MGNREGA, now hope to rise above socio-economic barriers to leverage the emerging support structures for entrepreneurship to realise their aspirations. Dreams like these define the limitless possibilities and potential that resides in India’s youth, and these dreams collectively will shape India’s future.

Written by Saubhagya Raizada, Development Alternatives Group.

Originally published in Development Alternatives May'2021 Newsletter.

The journey of Bundelkhand to entrepreneurship-led livelihood generation was originally published in Jobs We Make on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.