1. Micro-Enterprise Development Strategy and Support Mechanisms New Delhi: 22 nd June 2011 Kudumbashree, Kerala

3. Kudumbashree Poverty Eradication Mission of Government of Kerala Started in 1998 3-tier Community Organization structure embedded in local self governments Neighbourhood groups Area Development Society (Ward level) Community Development Society (LSG level) State and District Missions to support and facilitate functioning of CBO

4. Kudumbashree - Coverage LSGs – Total - 1043; Rural - 978 CDS – Total - 1061; Rural - 977 ADS – Total - 17,956; Rural - 16012 NHG – Total – 2.07 lakh; Rural – 1.86 lakh Families–Total – 38.57 lakh; Rural – 34.36 lakh (~ 50% of the families in Kerala)

6. 6 Structural flows CDS sub committees Micro finance Micro enterprises NREGS and collective farming Social development Infrastructure ADS Members given corresponding responsibilities NHG Income generation activity volunteer Health and education volunteer Infrastructure volunteer

7. Kudumbashree - Activities Micro Finance Thrift & Credit Bank Linkage, Interest Subsidy, Matching Grant Financial Literarcy Audit & Account

8. Collective Farming by women groups Women collectives for food security Cultivation of land on lease by forming joint liability groups of women farmers From Unskilled labourer to producer - cultivator Convergence of local government agricultural support interventions Scientific mode of cultivation and better know how of scientific cultivation practices Have a say on the produce- price, what to produce, when to produce, how to produce 25000 hectares of land under cultivation through Kudumbashree intervention Kudumbashree - Activities

10. NREGS ADS (Ward-level) functioning as mate Involvement in registration, job-card issue Social Audit Integration with agricultural interventions by Panchayat and Krishi Bhavan. Eg: Perambra Grama Panchayat – conversion of 140 acres of fallow land.

13. Kudumbashree - Activities Micro Enterprises Individual & Group enterprises Special enterprises Collectives/Consortia

19. Samagra – Value-chain based enterprise model One activity on a large scale targeting poor women with support across the value chain Comprehensive development of either an agricultural produce or an industrial product or a traditional job An all inclusive programme encompassing all the components from production to marketing local governments facilitated to develop projects and converge resources Community network support in implementation Coordinated negotiation for bank finance Kudumbashree - Activities

20. Samagra- Collectives Pineapple project of Ernakulam district Joint project of LSGs, Kudumbashree and Private Company 3115 women as cultivators 1250 ha under lease land farming Technical facilitation for quality produce Demonstration farms Exposure visits Trainings – follow up visits Integrated nutrient and pest management practices Value added products Market tie up

22. Samagra – Nendran Banana Banana Cultivation Project in Trivandrum Kudumbashree, 3 tier Panchayath and private partner Project worth Rs 40.60 crores - 58 Panchayaths -3 phases. 2400 ha - 30000 women farmers Phase I - 1780 ha under Nendran Banana - 13000 farmers Dist Panchayat -Set up Bio-control lab, tissue culture lab and soil testing lab. Adopted various scientific cultivation practices like IPM, INM etc CDS role in bank linkage, provisioning of master trainers Panchayat support for land identification, coordination and monitoring

24. Samagra- Collectives Outcome Assured market Controlling Costs of production Technical and technological know-how- theory into practice Scientific cultivation practices Support of the Technical institutes Good bargaining power Transformation from unskilled to skilled labourers/ entrepreneurs Role clarity Specialization Value chain Support of the community

25. Enterprise-Convergence Nedumpana Panchayat Panchayat initiative for garment cluster Convergence effected Industries department women development fund for machineries Panchayat fund for infrastructure Kudumbashree fund for management support, training CDS mobilisation of beneficiaries, coordination

26. Kudumbashree - Activities Marketing Monthly-Weekly-Daily markets at LSG level Festival fairs; exhibitions Home Shop

27. Marketing Collectives Community Marketing Network – Home shops Institutionalization of local markets for producers Local Production- local marketing- local consumption Opens new doors for marketing involving poor women of the locality Production units linked to local network through home shops- women who take orders and deliver products in the neighbourhood (ward as unit) professional management team to oversee logistics of production and distribution Localised branding and quality standardisation Sales on predetermined commission basis

28. LSGs and local markets Organisation of monthly and weekly markets for sale of kudumbashree products Special fairs during festivals, exhibitions LSG infrastructure, promotion and supervision Link up with cultural programmes for visibility Vegetable stalls set up by panchayats for local sale of produce

29. Market -Converegence We started with the monthly market, and then went on to weekly markets for the products from our panchayat. The panchayat provided us with a pick up truck and shopping lot and now we run daily markets CDS Nedumkandam

30. Kudumbashree - Activities Social Development Destitute Rehabilitation Special schools for mentally challenged children Balasabha – Children's forum Special Projects for ST communities

32. Kudumbashree - Activities Women's Empowerment Gender Self-Learning Programme CBO Strengthening Bye-laws & Election rules Support for convergence of resources Organization management support Internal accountability & collective responsibility

33. Capacity Building Most critical activity in the Kudumbashree system Multiple areas – livelihoods, social development, gender, organizational development Multiple stakehoders – NHG members, CBO leadership, LSG leadership, Officials, Resource Persons Multiple approaches – Institutional training, in- house professional training groups, CRP system, Individual experts

34. Community-based CB – Resources Resource Persons at various levels - volunteers Micro Finance – 26,000 persons Social Development – 3,500 persons Gender – 52,000 persons Training Enterprises 20 units conducting multi-disciplinary training 43 KAASS units of 356 trained accountant-auditors for book- keeping MEC 300 persons, in 29 MEC groups Master Trainer micro-enterprises to train/mentor new units Master Farmers for collective farming (MKSP)

36. From individual to collectives Collectivization of trainers – Started off with individual resource persons – Gradually formed into groups – Enterprise form Collectivization of enterprises – Bringing together of scattered enterprises in the same sector (garments, IT etc.) – Formation of Consortium at State level (member owned and controlled) Collectivization of MEC – Groups of MEC at District/Sub-district level

37. Community-based Enterprise Support System The Kudumbashree Experience

38. Micro Enterprises in Kudumbashree ~ 15,000 enterprise units; ~60,000 members More than 100 different types of enterprises Production to Consumption interventions Consortia Garment Consortium (Kadambari) Nutrimix (nutrition supplement) Consortium (Amrutham) Consortium of IT units (Unnati) Marketing interventions

39. ME Sector - Needs Appropriate orientation and training for new entrepreneurs Timely availability of managerial and technical expert support Identification of business opportunities Preparation of bankable business plans Ties for backward-forward linkages (technology, market, finance) Specialized training Strengthening CBO network to deal with economic/business issues effectively

40. Building support systems Business Management expertise available in the market Expensive, not always available Difficulties in understanding context of pro-poor businesses Alternative - develop bare-foot business management consultants Micro Enterprise Consultant - MEC

41. MEC System Started in 2004 Strengthened from 2009 onwards ~300 MEC active at present 29 MEC groups formed in 2011

42. MEC Young men and women from families of NHG members Identified by CDS, selected by District Mission Orientation training by EDII, Ahmedabad Specialized business management training for select MEC (CREAM Training) Business management training for other MEC by Master Trainer MEC (TEAM Training)

43. Services provided by MEC For establishing new enterprises Support CDS in identification of entrepreneurs Preparation of business plans Support to entrepreneurs for bank liaison, machinery purchase, market linkages, product quality assurance etc. Support for existing enterprises Support for licensing, product diversification, market expansion, book-keeping, financial statements etc. Training New entrepreneur orientation & training Performance improvement training for existing entrepreneurs

44. Services provided by MEC Support to CBO Structure Identification of entrepreneurs, business opportunities Preparation of enterprise inventories Conduct of monthly/weekly markets, fairs Co-ordination with different departments/agencies Preparation of GP level Livelihood Development Plan Support to Kudumbashree Mission Conduct of surveys and studies Conduct of training programmes Feedback on enterprise issues

45. Remuneration for MEC Paid by entrepreneurs 0.5% to 1% of project cost – for business plan preparation Rs.500 for business counselling Rs.250 for book-keeping Paid by Kudumbashree Mission Rs.350 per day faculty fees for training Rs.250 per month per unit for follow up visits to new enterprises MEC groups earn revenue by providing training services to other agencies/departments

46. Monitoring of MEC mechanism At CDS level Regular review of working of MEC support Bi-annual report of services provided by MEC group to District Mission At District Mission level Monthly report by MEC group Bi-monthly review meeting at District level Bi-annual joint review of CDS and District Mission Detailed guidelines issued by State Mission

47. Thank you!