Sadhna Co-op

A Community Success Story

Udaipur, Rajasthan state, India

http://www.sadhna.org/

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Sadhna Co-op

Hardeep lives on the outskirts of Udaipur on a tiny farm in Rajasthan state, with her mother and young son. The fam-ily struggled for years to keep their farm productive. Despite being known as “Land of the Kings,” Rajasthan is a poor state whose economy relies heavily on agriculture. However, much of the land is parched and infertile. It gets little rain, and crops must be nurtured with painstaking effort and irrigation.

Hardeep’s husband moved into the city looking for work, and like many other families, Hardeep and her mother were left to fend for themselves on the farm. In a traditional Indian community like this, it’s not considered appropri-ate for women to travel far from their house.

When Hardeep heard about “Sadhna”— a project to help rural women generate extra income — she and her mother both joined.

Sadhna started in 1988 as an NGO-run project to help women generate extra income by creating handicrafts. It began with 15 artisans working from home, and by 2000, the program had grown to include 250 artisans. However, the quality of work varied widely, and sales declined.

In 2004, Sadhna was revived as a social enterprise. Artisans became member-owners and co-decision makers. This had a telling effect. The organization started to operate more like a business, emphasizing product quality and com-petitiveness. Gradually, Sadhna products became more accepted in the local and international marketplace, and they turned a profit for the first time. They have done so every year since then.

Currently, Sadhna employs approximately 600 artisans working from home, and 100 production centre workers. While the organization operates within a 50 km radius of Udaipur, most of its artisans live within a 20-30 km radius of Udaipur. The group’s vision of empowering women by providing alternative revenue activities remains as strong as ever.

A Co-operative solution for women, by womenSadhna has always been driven by community engagement. Each artisan is a member-owner and shares in the deci-sions of the organization.

New Sadhna artisans train for one year. To become a member they must produce about CDN $75 of merchandise during their training year. Member-owners pay a one-time registration fee of CDN $4.73 and an annual membership fee of CDN $1.91.

Sadhna earns its revenue by purchasing raw materials and providing equipment and handicraft designs to its arti-sans and production centres. This ensures that products are consistent in quality and desirable in the marketplace.

Artisans working from home give finished garments to their area’s group leader, who brings the garments to the local centres, where they are sold through exports, business-to-business sales, exhibitions, local Sadhna retail stores, and online sales.

C o m m u n i t y E v o l u t i o n F o u n d a t i o n - E m p o w e r i n g c o m m u n i t i e s t h r o u g h s o c i a l e n t e r p r i s e .! 2

Sadhna’s profits are given back monthly to the artisans, based on the number of pieces they make. Additional profits are then paid to member-owners in March and September based on the total number of pieces the artisan has pro-duced over that time period.

GovernanceSadhna is officially governed by a volunteer Board of Trustees. The nine-member Board meets bi-annually to discuss the project and review its progress.

From the beginning, the Board has stipulated that a Management Committee comprising member-owners should govern the organization’s day-to-day operations.

Sadhna’s member-owners elect the Management Committee every three years. The Management Committee meets quarterly. Members of the Committee also serve as group leaders in Sadhna’s various geographical areas, with each group leader supervising about 20-25 artisans in their area.

Sadhna’s vision has remained the same since its inception in 1988 – to provide alternative livelihood activities to local workers. The Board of Trustees helps to guide the direction of the business, while Sadhna member-owners participate directly in decision making to drive the original vision.

FinancesBeing a profitable enterprise is a major change from Sadhna’s days as an NGO. Revenues have grown steadily since 2004 —Sadhna’s first year of operation – It has been profitable since then, and has an annual profit margin of 6-7%.

However, sales have stagnated over the past year. One customer, Fad India, is responsible for approximately 56% of Sadhna’s revenues. Another 13% of Sadhna’s business is in exports to Australia and North America. The remainder of the revenues are derived from Sadhna’s retail locations and exhibitions.

The current market for Sadhna goods is flat. Sadhna is working to diversify its domestic sales and expand in the local market to help reduce its reliance on a single customer, and the organization is looking to revitalize their product line with more contemporary designs to make them more marketable internationally.

BenefitsThe benefits of having a consistent source of extra income can be felt at every level: individual, family, and community-wide.

Women artisans have gained awareness and self-confidence about education, healthcare, social status and family life. For example, one of Sadhna’s artisans ran in a recent election for local office. With their involvement in the associa-tion, the women are more empowered to make their own decisions within the family, as well as in different socio-political groups. This has had a profound effect on many of the members’ lives.

Sadhna members are covered under the Provident Fund, a savings scheme for retirement. They also receive health coverage under the Employee State Insurance Scheme. Members receive life insurance coverage (where the artisan’s family would receive a pension in the case of untimely death). Regular eye check-up camps and other health camps are also organised in the villages.

C o m m u n i t y E v o l u t i o n F o u n d a t i o n - E m p o w e r i n g c o m m u n i t i e s t h r o u g h s o c i a l e n t e r p r i s e .! 3

700 women in the community now receive a steady source of income. The average artisan payout is currently CDN $23.70 per month. (Sadhna would like to increase the average payout to CDN $49.30 per month in the coming year.)

Sadhna distributes profits to member-owners at times of the year that coincide with payments for children’s school fees and the Indian festival season.

The average artisan payout is used to track Sadhna’s performance at both the business and community levels. As the average payout increases, so does the well-being of the company and the local artisans in their community.

The number of Sadhna artisans’ children in school has increased, as have the number of educational scholarships given to children of Sadhna artists (approximately 160 scholarships were awarded in 2014).

Finally, the broader impact of Sadhna as a co-operative has been felt throughout the community with improvements in sanitation and health that affect everyone.

Who knew that embroidery and handicrafts could have such a dramatic impact on people’s lives? Like ripples from a single stone dropped in a pool of water, these positive effects spread outward from individuals and families to en-compass the community as a whole.

C o m m u n i t y E v o l u t i o n F o u n d a t i o n - E m p o w e r i n g c o m m u n i t i e s t h r o u g h s o c i a l e n t e r p r i s e .! 4