Enterprise growth in the developing world is often constrained by capital, lack of training and skilled labor, market frictions and a general difficulty in identifying ventures with greater growth potential. In the case of women, entrepreneurship or self-employment is constrained further by several additional factors, such as lower levels of education and skills acquisition, restricted mobility, a higher burden of care work and social norms regarding appropriate work for women. The expansion of e-commerce and internet access in recent years has led us to investigate if digital technology could be leveraged in our setting to improve these skilled women’s access to wider product markets and enhance their earnings. This project update shares the methodology used to address this research question and early insights that have emerged so far.
The ANDE South Asia Member Showcase is a document that goes out during the year highlighting the work being done by a few selected members on a regular basis. Read on to know about the showcase and take a look at the members highlighted!
“It was a turning point for me,” said Ruchi Jain, Founder and CEO of Taru Naturals, about her trip to the villages of small-scale farmers in India struggling with the effects of climate change. “I realized that if you want to make a big impact on the world, you have to be grassroots based—it has to be a movement.” Since then, Jain has grown Taru Naturals into a fair-trade network connecting over 10,000 tribal and small-scale organic farmers across India to the resources and training they need to grow climate-resilient crops and markets to sell their products.
Project Kirana is currently training 3,000 women shop owners and managers in the cities of Lucknow and Kanpur, working to optimize business operations and leverage digital and financial tools to improve decision-making, personal agency, and revenue.
"A Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) lançou o Fundo Avançado para o Empoderamento das Mulheres (AWEF, na sigla em inglês) em 2019 com o apoio da Visa Foundation e da Agência dos Estados Unidos para o Desenvolvimento Internacional (USAID). O objetivo geral dos projetos financiados pelo AWEF é abordar a lacuna de gênero para financiamento para pequenas empresas em crescimento (SGBs)1 pertencentes a mulheres em economias em desenvolvimento. A primeira rodada de grantmaking, a AWEF Asia, financiou oito organizações de apoio a empreendedores (ESOs) no Camboja, Vietnã, Mianmar, Filipinas, Paquistão e Índia, bem como programas que servem a região como um todo."
"L’Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) a lancé l’Advancing Women’s Empowerment Fund (AWEF) en 2019 avec le soutien de la Fondation Visa et de l’Agence Américaine pour le Développement International (USAID). L’objectif global des projets financés par l’AWEF est de combler l’écart de financement entre les sexes pour les petites entreprises en croissance (PEC) tenues par des femmes dans les économies en développement. La première série de subventions, AWEF Asie, a financé huit organisations de soutien aux entrepreneurs (OSE) au Cambodge, Vietnam, Myanmar, Philippines, Pakistan et en Inde, ainsi que des programmes desservant la région dans son ensemble."