Project Summary
The Women’s Small Business Enterprises Project supported by Footprints Fundraising has successfully provided Sri Lankan women with opportunities to significantly increase their confidence, skills and control over income and assets. This project aimed to directly challenge gendered stereotypes in poor communities in Sri Lanka by promoting women’s leadership and entrepreneurship, particularly in higher earning livelihood roles and vocational training.
This project complemented existing gender equality, sustainable livelihoods and peace building projects undertaken by Oxfam’s community-based partner organisations in the South and Central provinces.
Aim
To address the issue of poor women’s lack of access to, and control over, a sufficient and independent income to care for their families and meet basic needs.
Planned Activities 2010/11
- 80 women in 12 groups will have accessed 12 low interest loans averaging AUD$2,468 for investment in profitable enterprises.
- Women will have increased their income and the value of their labor to enable more time to be spent in caring for their families and on personal development.
- 80 women will have increased confidence, self-esteem and leadership
- Transformation of household power relations; women will have a greater role in decision making, enjoy a reduction in violence, and greater independence.
- Girls to have improved access to primary and potentially secondary education as more money is made available to meet family needs
- Participating women will be role models for other women and girls, and play a vital leadership role in their communities.
Project Outcomes 2010/11
The specific outcomes achieved against the stated activities were;
- 91 women in 7 groups were provided low interest loans varying between Rs 30,000 (approx $300 AUD) and Rs 70,000 (Approx $700 AUD) to establish Small Business Enterprises (SME’s)
- All 7 groups have increased profit from their enterprise ranging from Rs.1,500 to Rs.4,000 per month during the first 6 months.
- Interviews and baseline information showed participating women experienced increased confidence and self-esteem and have emerged as leaders with ability to deal with community and personal issues
- The 91 women in the program have access to income and other forms of social influence through the management of their families’ businesses.
- The women in the program reported that they are prioritising the education of their daughters and are allocating separate rooms for the girls. Information on girl participation is being collected and entered into a database for future tracking.
- Interviews and the collection of baseline information show a positive move in this area. An example is one woman through her own initiative supporting other members of the group to develop their enterprise. Her own husband is ill in hospital and she is managing the family with her own income. She has set an example to the others and has been able to go around and strengthen them to conduct their enterprises to the best of their ability.
The small scale enterprises supported were:
- Coconut Oil production and vegetable farming
- Clay pots production and vegetable cultivation
- Mushroom cultivation?
- Coir-based products
- Spice packaging
Conclusion / general comments
Increasing substantially the income of women and engaging them in non-traditional activities has been a long term objective of Oxfam. Though livelihood activities of women were funded through the micro credit programs and also during disasters such as the tsunami, it has been documented that large injections of funds have not significantly changed women's income patterns or increased women's empowerment.
This intervention therefore, was based on a critical understanding of the constraints and strategies that were needed to succeed – both to increase women’s income and to sustain their decision-making control over income. The outcomes appear to indicate clear strategies and ways forward. In that sense, this is seen as a successful project.
Case Study
"I have two daughters and a son. My elder daughter is studying for her Advanced Level examination. The second one is in grade 10 and the youngest in Grade 5. We lived under much hardship. I was earlier a casual labourer working during the harvesting season in different fields. I would leave very early in the morning and come home late at night. I had only a few days of work each year. The rest of the time I did when work was available. All this was very unreliable. My husband is also a labourer.
When the group members came and told me there is an opportunity to do something else, I wanted to go and see it. After I saw it, I felt that if I learnt this I could do it while looking after the children. I constructed the shed, put up racks and got everything ready. I got a loan of Rs.43,000 and training in mushroom cultivation from ARCDF. With this money I built the cultivation shed and bought all the necessary things such as rice bran, a filter for filtering rice bran, saw dust and a hose. I got the necessary training to do this as a self employment project and now I feel I am in a situation where I can go forward successfully.
It is about eight months since I began this business. Speaking of economic benefits of this work, I am able to say that I am the one who is spending for most of the children’s needs such as school fees, books, etc. I do not go for labour work now as I need to spend time taking care of the mushroom cultivation, harvesting them regularly and taking them for sale. I earn about Rs.10,000 a month. I get a profit of around Rs.3,000 to 4,000. On days that I have to prepare the culture medium, I spend about 6 hours on this work. On harvesting days, I spend two to three hours in the morning doing sales. I packet these myself and go round selling these to boutiques and houses in the village. I return home only after I have sold all my harvest for the day. If I take it to the village fair I have to spend a lot more time, but when I sell from house to house I am able to sell everything and get back quickly. I go in different directions on different days.
am happy I have been able to contribute to my children’s education. I have to put aside approximately Rs.5,000 per month for my elder daughter’s education. She passed her O.L. examination well and is doing bio-science. I get the support of my whole family when there is cleaning work, preparing culture media, etc. I am respected in my family. Earlier I used to work the whole day in the paddy field until I finish harvesting the allocated lot, but now I am able to sell my produce by about 9.00 in the morning, come home and attend to household chores. Paddy harvesting is a very difficult job. This is a great relief for me and I am able to look after the children better and oversee their studies. It is my desire to improve this business and complete my half-built house. And if I can support my children’s education, I will be very content.
I am happy that I started this enterprise. I feel strong now. I am able to go round and sell the products on my own."
Participant in the Mushroom Production and Marketing Enterprise
The project will focus on women’s economic empowerment to support approximately 80 poor women to collectively implement small business enterprises and increase their confidence, skills and control over income and assets. It will directly challenge gendered stereotypes in poor communities in Sri Lanka by promoting women’s leadership and entrepreneurship, particularly in higher earning livelihood roles and vocational training.
Project costs will cover:
- Vocational and business training for approx 12-16 women's groups
- Research and facilitation for market access
- Revolving fund loans for investment capital in these small scale enterprises
- Gender training and discussions for women and their families
- Monitoring, support, monthly meetings and reviews of projects
Project Aim: To promote gender equality and empower women
The project will directly address the issue of poor women’s lack of access to and control over a sufficient and independent income to care for their families and meet basic needs – which reinforces their low status. Recent research has highlighted the vital importance that control over income, assets and other resources plays in women’s and girls’ empowerment, both in the family and community.
The project will directly address these issues by:
- Facilitating stronger linkages with government services and access to credit
- Facilitating producer networks in the relevant product industries, so they can have a greater voice in negotiations and add value to their products
- Bringing together different stake-holders in the sectors to discuss solutions to issues
- Provide women’s access to technical training to improve product quality and value addition
- Advocate for support from government extension services
Small Business Enterprises
The industry sectors are still being determined after analysis of market access and profitability, but could include sectors such as the dairy and palm products industries. These industries have been identified by our partners as good opportunities for development and profitability.
Project Outcomes
- 80 women in 12-16 groups will have accessed low interest loans averaging AUD $2,100 - $2,800 for investment in small businesses.
- Women will have increased their income and the value of their labour.
- 80 women will have increased their confidence, self esteem and leadership.
- Transformation of household power relations; women will have a greater role in decision making, enjoy a reduction in violence, and greater independence.
- Girl children will have improved access to primary and even secondary education as more money is available to meet family needs.
- Participating women will be role models for other women and girls and play a vital leadership role in their communities.
Community Partners
Oxfam Australia will partner with community based organisations in Central, South and Eastern Districts whose membership are the poorest women and men (approximately 80% women) mobilised into small groups, village sub-committees and central committees. They will be supported to develop and run their new enterprises by Oxfam field staff and a Livelihood Coordinator in the Colombo office.
This is a new project, however it is based on findings from the Sri Lanka Gender Impact Study and builds on learnings from other livelihood initiatives Oxfam has been implementing over the past 15 years.
Background on women's rights and empowerment in Sri Lanka:
Poor and marginalised women in Sri Lanka have very restricted economic opportunities. With unequal access to formal and higher education, they are trapped in income generating activities which yield very low returns on their labour. This project will complement existing gender equality, sustainable livelihoods and peace building projects being undertaken by Oxfam’s community-based partner organisations in the East, South and Central provinces.
The project will contribute to broader gender practice and learning in the area of income generation for poor and illiterate women. In the developing world, most women earn meagre incomes and work very long hours, often under very poor conditions. In Sri Lanka, very poor women can earn as little as 15 cents (Australian) per hour over an 11 hour day. To break this cycle of poverty it is important that we offer alternative income generation models for women.
This project contributes to our implementation of the recommendations of the landmark Sri Lanka Gender Impact Study. We anticipate that this seed funding will provide the poorest and most marginalised women with the skills to earn a living wage, demonstrating that women can be primary breadwinners and manage enterprises that yield substantial incomes. Project outcomes and findings will be shared across organisations to build knowledge and expertise in women’s empowerment in international development initiatives.
It will also organise Tamil and Muslim communities to work together to
develop the small enterprises; a very important initiative in Sri Lanka
where there is a history of interethnic violence.
The Breakthrough Alliance
The Footprints Network is funding this project as part of our commitment to the global Breakthrough Alliance which is tackling poverty through empowering women and girls. It addresses UN Millennium Development Goal # 3: Gender Equity.