There are seven million artisans in India who are directly engaged in crafts making and an additional 200 million artisans who are engaged in craft production to earn a livelihood.A lot of these artisans, however, have already taken daily wage jobs as agricultural laborers, cab drivers, rickshaw pullers etc. due to lack of support to boost their business.According to the United Nations, India has lost 30% of its artisans over the past 30 years.
Project Maati Milaap (Union with the Earth), the first initiative of SoCHE, therefore is aimed at mainstreaming such forgotten artisans and providing them with a sustainable marketplace; thereby helping them earn a better livelihood and live a life of dignity. The objective is to uplift them out of poverty as it is intrinsically linked to environment degradation as well.
In a recent survey conducted by SoCHE in the potter community it was found that:
- Majority of the artisans feel that they have very poor earnings due to lack of access to a marketplace directly
- Exploitation by middlemen and incorrect pricing of their productsare pressing issues
- Since the craft is highly labour intensive and does not lead to good income, the next generation is not interested in carrying this artforward
- 60% of the artisans are willing to sell through E-commerce medium if guided and supported
Through this initiative,SoCHE will bridge these gaps. Artisans will be provided with:
- A dedicated e-commerce platform for handicrafts with fair pricing,eliminating the middlemen completely for greater profitability and a means of poverty alleviation through direct market linkage. This will also professionalize the infrastructure such as work sheds, storage space, shipping and packing facilities, which otherwise is highly unorganised.
- Capacity building with new designs and techniques, helping them keep pace with new market demands and trends, promoting traditional handicraft among masses with a contemporary feel
- Improving efficiency of the polluting firing kilns, ensuring health and environment benefits for them, their families and neighbourhood
About SoCHE
SoCHE – Solutions for Clean and Healthy Environment, is a start up social enterprise focused at environment conservation and social upliftment. It has been founded by young professionals who recently gave up their corporate jobs to work on the issues of sustainable developmentat the grass-root level.
Overall Mission of SoCHE till 2035 is:
- Alternate livelihood generation and/ or income enhancement of 10 million people dependent on natural resources directly or indirectly
- Influence at least 10 million lives in urban and rural areas for sustainable living, enabling behavior change for a cleaner planet
- Enable greenhouse gas savings to the tune of 0.5 million tonnes of CO2e