Motivation
The small and household manufacturing industry (SHMI) of Pakistan employs 2.69 million workers belonging to household and small-scale cottage industry establishments that contributed 476,260 million Pak Rupees to the country’s GDP as of 2015. The cottage industry refers to the production of handmade goods that belong to a vast area of highly skilled crafts like carpet weaving, embroidery, ceramics and pottery making, preparing sports goods, textiles, jewelry, woodwork, tailoring, patchwork, beadwork, knitting, and crocheting to name a few.
In terms of distribution, 56% of the workers are based in household setups while the remaining 44% of the workers are employed by small establishments. Approximately, 42% of these workers are women who are highly skilled in their craft and prepare fine products. Only 4% of the women work at industrial establishments. A number of socio-cultural and environmental factors like poor and unsafe working conditions, low wages, and workplace harassment, influence these women to work from a home-based setup.
With recent hyperinflation in the country, meeting ends has become extremely challenging, particularly for low-income families. In these circumstances, women are more motivated to establish a sustainable source of income to support their households.
Empowering our skilled labor force will have significant economic and social impacts. In addition to boosting the country’s economy, making women independent, and helping eliminate poverty. HSP aims to support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals of ‘No Poverty’ and ‘Decent Work and Economic Growth’ within Pakistan.
Existing Initiatives
There are a number of similar initiatives that have resulted in successful business ventures led by women artisans worldwide. Let’s explore a few such programs to assess the viability of a not-for-profit organization that helps women artisans in Pakistan establish their own small businesses.
CARE’s Women Entrepreneurship Program: A four-pillar model addressing the challenges women entrepreneurs face in the educational, financial, social, and digital space. The program ensures financial inclusion for micro businesses having two to ten employees and a nascent business. Over the years, CARE has partnered with 92 financial service providers to deliver saving accounts, loans, digital financial services, insurance, and payment solutions. CARE’s financial partners have disbursed $90M+ USD in loans in a period of eighteen months. They also play a key role in shifting social norms regarding working women through campaigns, reaching out to 8M+ entrepreneurs, households, and communities. It also coaches women to build business skills and adapt to digital solutions. The program has provided its services to 200,000+ entrepreneurs to date.
UNDP Productive Families Economic Empowerment Programme – Women Entrepreneurs (DEEP-WE): Funded by the Swedish International Development Agency and the Islamic Development Bank, this program provided women with financial and non-financial training through partner NGOs, business development service providers, and microfinance institutions. The program supported 889 potential women entrepreneurs in Palestine. The candidates were provided training on topics including business idea generation, product development, production, markets and marketing, market survey, development of marketing plan, management, financial statements, and bookkeeping. Out of 889 women, 818 developed their business plans and established their start-ups. The Islamic Development Bank also provided micro-loans to 146 of these women.
Impulse NGO network: Using a networking-based model in north India, Impulse has created a platform called Impulse Empower dedicated to women artisans offering their handicrafts for sale online or showcasing their handweaving designs for future collaborations. These women now have a permanent source of income via this platform.
Rangsutra: a handicrafts company in India links over 2000 rural women artisans with the global markets. Acting as a bridge between the artisans and the markets creates tremendous growth opportunities for the artisans, like building international clientele. Rangsutra and IKEA Social Entrepreneurship have a decade-long collaboration.
Our Model
Artisanal women can be found in rural villages predominantly situated near Punjab. Prior to delving into the intricacies of entrepreneurship, it is imperative to educate them about its significance for an individual and Pakistan’s economy itself. We are piloting a system that helps us identify the best path for women.
Talent Discovery: After a series of meticulously organized information sessions, the women must be interviewed so they are correctly identified; We will assess on the basis of commitment, passion, and skill by looking at their work examples.
Targeted Mentorship: Once identified, the next step would involve connecting these promising women to industry experts for guidance. This liaison would be aligned with the woman’s chosen skillset and her aspirations for the future. The dedicated mentors would train these women by improving their skills and infusing them with innovation while teaching them about evolving consumer trends. The mentorship would extend its guidance by providing knowledge about basic business fundamentals.
Continuous Enrichment: To enrich the learning experience, frequent design workshops could be hosted by successful entrepreneurs with similar expertise and also by successful national brands like Khaadi or Sapphire.
Financial literacy programs could be designed, and understanding of efficient product promotion strategies while providing them with practical solutions. Such as the establishment of e-commerce platforms where these women could sell their products facilitated through reliable vendors.
Pathfinder: Additionally, the women would be kept engaged through client support by volunteer “pathfinders” that would help resolve any challenges they could face and feedback on mentors.
We believe this holistic approach to counseling would not only equip these women with essential skills but also boost their self-esteem. As a result, they would evolve into self-efficient entrepreneurs while contributing meaningfully to the socioeconomic structures of their communities.
References:
https://www.pbs.gov.pk/publication/small-and-household-manufacturing-industries-shmi-2015
https://www.ikeasocialentrepreneurship.org/en/news/international-womens-day-2023
https://www.hrw.org/report/2019/01/23/no-room-bargain/unfair-and-abusive-labor-practices-pakistan
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