Tribalpreneurs Rickshaw

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WHERE.
Mumbai

Medha

We work in villages around Medha, in Satara district,

Maharashtra state, India (5 hours from Mumbai).
Context of rural India that we face:

450 millions live with less than 1.25USD/day

70% don't have access to safe water
86
58% use wood to cook leading to a lot of smoke
TRIBALPRENEURS RICKSHAW . 1

37.7 millions
per year affected
by waterborne
diseases

584.000
per year die due
to diarrhea

488.200
per year die due
to indoor air
pollution

WHO.
We work with 125 katkari tribal hamlets and villages.

With human-centered design methodologies we addressed 18 tribal

villages (population
we find their main needs:
lack of stable income
remoteness of the villages and lack of mobility
drinking water scarcity and quality
lack of toilets (and diseases related to hygiene/sanitation)
health problems due to fire-based cookers & lack of wood
unavailability of education, electricity, housing and land rights
social issues like alcoholism or family violence
lack of self-sustainability, independence and self-esteem
TRIBALPRENEURS RICKSHAW . 3

Our main source of income is fishing.

We spend about 6 to 9 hours per day, on the river and then selling it on
the market, to receive from 2.5 to 6 dollars per day.
During summer the lack of fish force us to work on nearby farms, 8
hours per day for 5 dollars if
man and about 1.5 if
woman.

We want new livelihoods that can provide us a stable

income through the whole year.

WHY.

AWARENESS
RAISING

CONSCIOUSNESS
APPROPRIATE
SOLUTIONS

SELF
QUALITY
SUSTAINOF LIFE
ABILITY

LIVELIHOODS
PROMOTION

HAPPINESS!
TRIBALPRENEURS RICKSHAW . 5

WHY.

AWARENESS
RAISING
alcoholism

family planning

domestic violence
hygiene

health/sexual education

CONSCIOUSNESS

sanitation
healthy/efficient cookers
overcome lack of wood

APPROPRIATE
SOLUTIONS
lighting solutions

financial literacy

stable income
savings

SELF
QUALITY
SUSTAINOF LIFE
ABILITY

social entrepreneurship as a driver

LIVELIHOODS
PROMOTION
dignity and self-esteem
local economy development

overcome lack of cold storage

safe drinking water

local resources, materials and skills

HAPPINESS!
TRIBALPRENEURS RICKSHAW . 6

WHAT.
Tribalpreneurs Rickshaw
Our solution is to establish a service that promotes the self-sustainability
of local tribes through appropriate technologies that solve their
community needs, supporting their livelihoods by helping them to
become micro-tribal-entrepreneurs and providing solutions for the
whole process (from skills development to the deliver of products to the
end-users).

We believe in social entrepreneurship as a driver for

community empowerment and local social and economy
development, towards dignity and will to change.
TRIBALPRENEURS RICKSHAW . 7

WHAT.
Tribalpreneurs
Tribal people as
Tribalpreneurs
micro-entrepreneurship
development program for tribal
people (with a focus on women)

Rickshaw
Social Trading
Rickshaws
social trading service for
connecting the tribal hamlets
and exchange their products

TRIBALPRENEURS RICKSHAW . 8

WHAT.
Tribalpreneurs
Tribal people as
Tribalpreneurs

Rickshaw
Social Trading
Rickshaws

# micro-tribal-entrepreneurship development program (including financial

literacy and support on the whole entrepreneurial process: manufacturing,
marketing, packaging, quality control, etc)
# empower underprivileged tribes (with a special focus on women) using
innovative and eco-friendly livelihoods based in appropriate technologies,
recycled materials, low-cost approaches, etc

# use of app. tech. which can provide them a stable source of income while
increasing their quality of life (e.g. efficient/healthy cooking-stoves)
TRIBALPRENEURS RICKSHAW . 9

WHAT.
Tribalpreneurs

Rickshaw

Tribal people as
Tribalpreneurs

Social Trading
Rickshaws

# connecting all the tribal hamlets for buying and selling the products
manufactured by them and raw materials (previously bought in bulk for
selling low-cost to tribes)
# selling of other products which are important for their development (e.g.
sanitary pads, school materials or soap)
# collection of savings for their future financial stability and resilience
#
(together with a small commission on products)
TRIBALPRENEURS RICKSHAW . 10

HOW.
Our key activities are:
training in new livelihoods to micro-tribal-entrepreneurs
trading of products made by local communities and deliver them in
nearby villages overcoming the mobility problems of tribes
connection with suppliers for bulk purchases in order to achieve
lower prices and avoid discrimination due to caste
promotion of financial literacy and savings collection
We deliver:

Skills, awareness
and quality of life

Promotion of sustainability and

dignity instead of dependency

Support on the
entrepreneurial process

New channel for products that

TRIBALPRENEURS RICKSHAW . 11

HOW.
Some remarks on the process:
we track progress (and measure impact) with points accordingly to their social development,
savings)
we foster pride and dignity by celebrating their achievements with badges and rewards (e.g. a family
receives an achievement plate to hang on their door after reaching a certain amount of points or a
community receives a solar street light for their village)

we tell the story of successful tribal entrepreneurs and evolved communities in order to inspire others
and ignite their will to change (e.g. photos of happy families with a new solar light on the rickshaw)
they are the ones we decide what they want to do; we clarify the service we offer and their benefits and
costs (e.g. small fee in order to get their commitment) and always stating that they are free to sell by
their own means, innovate on the manufacturing process or produce in their own rhythm
local needs, promoting the improvement on their quality of life while giving a source of income

TRIBALPRENEURS RICKSHAW . 12

WHAT.
Some examples of products:
Craftspreneurs

Handicrafts with local/recycling materials

Solarpreneurs

Low-cost solar cookers and solar dryers

Briquettepreneurs

Biomass briquettes for cooking

Sprinklepreneurs

Efficient irrigation systems for farming

Cookerpreneurs

Efficient cooking stoves

TRIBALPRENEURS RICKSHAW . 14

WHAT.
Some examples of products:
Honeypreneurs

Beekeeping and selling of organic honey

Waterpreneurs

Water filters made of local resources

Fridgepreneurs

Cold storage without electricity

Lightpreneurs

Solar bulbs made of plastic bottles

Toiletpreneurs

Eco-toilets that use compost for trees

TRIBALPRENEURS RICKSHAW . 15

research
and tests

success
stories

EVALUATION AND IMPACT.

Tracking of progress real-time for quick adaptations on the process
(e.g. routes, portfolio of products, marketing strategies, etc.)
number of families engaged and employment generation
percentage of growth on the families income and savings (and its
stability along the year)
achievement points earned by the families
percentage of behavioral change in each hamlet (e.g. better
cooking methods, drinking filtered water, etc.)
satisfaction of families (questionnaires regarding the process, the
quality of products, etc.)
sales volume
revenue (and the amount of villages we can scaling-up due to that)
TRIBALPRENEURS RICKSHAW . 13

BUSINESS STUFF.
Revenue comes from:

small commission on manufactured products when sold to tribes

and higher commission if sold to traders or villagers
commission on other products (small commission in products like
soap, sanitary napkins, seeds or school materials, and higher to other
products like biscuits or mobile recharges)
fees from corporate advertisement on the rickshaw

This revenue is not for profit but rather for the

sustainability of our service, allowing future
scaling-ups and improvements.
TRIBALPRENEURS RICKSHAW . 18

SOME BENEFITS.
For tribes:
overcome mobility and marketing issues, lack of skills and decent
job opportunities, exploitation from middlemen and caste
discrimination while selling/buying
autonomy and freedom of choice allowed by no exclusivity (they
buying materials in bulk from suppliers and sell to all the
communities at lower prices
flexibility on payments to allow low-income families to buy
products while paying with their own made products
using a simple sms system for exchanging information between
tribes and rickshaws (e.g. when they have products to sell/buy)
TRIBALPRENEURS RICKSHAW . 19

SOME BENEFITS.
And for sponsors:

big market waiting to be developed for selling products (that was

before completely inaccessible for companies due to remoteness)
wide visibility for advertisement campaigns due to a new and
innovative marketing channel in rural areas
healthy approach to corporate social
responsibility focused on sustainability and
long-term impact
opportunities for media appearance due to
the novelty of the service and opportunities
that can generate

TRIBALPRENEURS RICKSHAW . 20

QUICK WRAP-UP.
we create new markets and micro-entrepreneurs for them
we incentive will to change and dignity instead of dependency
we provide solutions to the whole chain (training, supplies,
marketing, savings, awareness, etc)
we mix affordable solutions, appropriate technologies,
upcycling/recycling and local or low-cost resources

we give visibility (to successful tribes, to sponsors, etc)

we keep in mind the sustainability and scaling-up of the service
TRIBALPRENEURS RICKSHAW . 21

WHO WE ARE.
AIILSG - All India Institute of Local Self-Government, a wide NGO
with more than 80 years of experience and presence in all India,
working on capacity building, research and social development.
SHRAMIK JVS, a community-based organization working with these
tribal communities for more than 25 years on livelihoods programs,
SAPANA.org, a young non-profit organization focused on delivering
new and innovative solutions for social awakening and economic

TRIBALPRENEURS RICKSHAW . 22

AND WHY US.

we have deep trust relations with the tribes and empathy for their
needs, problems and aspirations
knowledge on appropriate technologies and passion for affordable
solutions adequate to local context
experience of many years working with tribes on livelihoods,
-help groups, awareness, etc

And we all love and admire tribal communities

and awesome rickshaws!
TRIBALPRENEURS RICKSHAW . 23

THANK YOU!

contact us : asia@sapana.org