Livelihoods and rural enterprise
Self-help groups, market access and small business support for households whose income is seasonal and precarious.
870
Self-help groups
2,400
Enterprises supported
+41%
Median income change
68%
Trading after two years
What the problem actually is.
For most rural households the problem is not the absence of work but the shape of it: income arrives in two or three bursts a year and disappears in between, which makes every unexpected cost a debt.
The programme works on smoothing that. Self-help groups build a savings habit and a shared buffer; enterprise grants back small, unglamorous businesses - a repair shop, a tailoring unit, a dairy collection point - that earn something every month.
Market access is the part that decides whether it lasts. A producer selling only to the trader who visits gets the price the trader offers, so we invest in the boring infrastructure of aggregation, grading and a second buyer to call.
Who this is for: Rural households with seasonal income, women's collectives, and small producers and artisans.
The work, specifically.
Each of these is funded with its running costs included - stipends, repairs, follow-up - because that is what decides whether it survives past the first year.
Self-help groups
Formation, book-keeping training and linkage to a bank account that actually gets used.
Enterprise grants
Small capital grants for month-earning micro-businesses, with mentoring for the first year.
Market linkage
Aggregation, grading and introductions to more than one buyer, so price is negotiable.
Digital payments and records
Practical training so a business can take digital payments and keep records a lender will accept.
Artisan support
Design input, materials and online listing for traditional craft producers.
870
Self-help groups
2,400
Enterprises supported
+41%
Median income change
68%
Trading after two years
Named projects inside this programme.
Assam · since 2022
Market Link
Aggregation, grading and a second buyer to call - so a small producer has a price to negotiate.
How it works →
Three things that would make a difference here.
- Buy from artisan groups for your corporate gifting.
- Mentor a small enterprise through its first year.
- Fund a cohort of enterprise grants.
Contributes to
- SDG 1 No poverty
- SDG 5 Gender equality
- SDG 8 Decent work and economic growth
Related programmes
Fund it, staff it, or send us your old laptops.
Tell us which programme interests you and roughly what you have in mind - money, equipment, time or expertise - and we will come back with something specific rather than a brochure.
