ChildFund India and Citi Foundation celebrated transformation of 1000 tribal women into Entrepreneurs

Jhabua: Mamta’s life has changed entirely after becoming an entrepreneur. This just 12th stdgraduate has emerged as an independent and confident business woman, who actively participates in taking financial decisions for her family as well as is role model for women of her community. Till one year back, Mamta, like other women of her community,was struggling to make ends meet. She used to do a little bit of tailoring work and earn around Rs. 2000 per month to support her family, which wasn’t enough. After becoming part of ‘Poverty to Prosperity’ project, she not only earns an additional income of Rs. 5000 every month through her Poultry farming business, she is also on the Board of Directors leading the Producer Company formed under the project to support the businesses of beneficiaries. Eventually, Mamta wishes to establish her own hatchery unit to breed and supply chickens of kadaknath breed to other women through the Producer Company so that they can also start and benefit from this business.

Mamta is one of the 1000 young women who have been trained and transformed into entrepreneurs under ChildFund India’s “P2P – Poverty to Prosperity” project supported by the Citi Foundation’s ‘India Innovation Grant Program’ (IIGP). These trained tribal women aged between 18 to 30 years and from low income communities located in 46 villages across Jhabua, Dhar and Alirajpur districts in Madhya Pradesh were provided with training in the key areas of leadership, community entrepreneurship, financial planning, marketing and poultry management, 100 chickens and a poultry shed to each beneficiary to start their poultry farming business as an alternative source of livelihood.

Today, ChildFund India and Citi Foundation celebrated their project’s success as it has successfully trained 1000 women as entrepreneurs, created 1000 new enterprises earningaround 3,000 to 4,000 monthly, over 800 women have opened personal bank account and 80% of the targeted women have increased understanding on financial management.
Out of the 1000 beneficiaries, nearly 300 beneficiaries have so far sold approx. 5000 chickens worth Rs. 10,00,000; chickens of rest of the beneficiaries are still growing. These entrepreneurs also plan to start selling other poultry products as per the market demand and rate soon. To support these 1000 entrepreneurs, SramadhaAdiwasiMahilaMurgiPaalan Producer Company Private Limited has been established, which is now trying to establish credit linkage with various government schemes like National Rural livelihood Mission.
The event was attended by distinguished dignitaries –Dr. Wilson Davor, Joint Director Veterinary Services, MP Govt., Dr. Deewakar, Veterinary Doctor and In-charge, Govt. Kadaknath Centre, Dr. Chandra Shekhar Singh, Veterinary Doctor & Poultry Expert, Dr. V K Singh, Scientist, KrishiVigyan Kendra, Jhabua, representatives fromJansahasSampark, Card &Prayas, project’stechnical partner organizations andover 200 of its project beneficiaries. The highlight of the event was the personal account by 6 beneficiaries who shared their experiences, aspirations as well as future plans for managing and expanding their business.
ChildFund India, a recipient of the Citi Foundation’s ‘2016 India Innovation Grant Program’, initiated the Project –‘P2P – Poverty to Prosperity’with an aim tooffer livelihood opportunities among low income women, by addressing the local economic livelihood problem of the area. Low fertility of land and soil erosion, coupled with scarcity of rainfall, forces the ‘Bhils’ (a Tribal Community), to migrate out of the region in search of alternate livelihoods, where they mostly end up working as low paid laborers. ‘Poverty to Prosperity’ equipped these women with skills required for creating an alternate source of livelihood in poultry farming and further supported them in setting up the business as well as expanding the same in their own village, preventing migration.
Neelam Makhijani, CEO and Country Director, ChildFund India said, “Through this intervention we have been able to empower tribal women and create successful entrepreneurs by offering viable and sustainable livelihood option for them. We have successfully assisted 1000 tribal women in 3 districts of Madhya Pradesh by providing infrastructure, resources and training to initiate poultry farming. We are committed to continue providing support for them to grow further and sustain their business through a vibrant Producer Company which they lead and manage. We are thankful to Citi Foundation for their support as this partnership has provided several opportunities both for tribal women in Madhya Pradesh and for the organization to learn from and replicate a sustainable model that changes lives. ChildFund India is committed as an enabler to create change makers!
DebasisGhosh, Public Affairs Officer, Citi India Cluster said,“The P2P program is aligned with the Government’s ‘Skill India’ mission and Citi Foundation’s focus areas of youth employability and financial inclusion. Citi India, through Citi Foundation has contributed towards this end by supporting youth from low-income households to build financial assets, enabling entrepreneurs to create livelihoods and enhancing the power of the collective to strengthen and transform communities. This initiative connects tribal women with economic opportunities through a market based intervention model that is both scalable and sustainable. This program has seen incredible success and has given women the tools to start and maintain a poultry farming business that is reliable, profitable and that fulfills a large market demand. Through this initiative, Citi is not only contributing towards these women’s economic empowerment but are also giving them a sense of independence and agency over their own futures.”