Patan district of Gujarat is known for ‘Rani Ki Vav’, built by a queen as a memorial to her husband in the 11th century. But now the women in the district are changing the narrative with the help of millets.
To facilitate the economic empowerment of women in rural India, the Reliance Foundation catalyses transformative change by empowering grassroots community institutions through entrepreneurship development, skill development initiatives, and resource convergence.
In its report ‘Fostering Resilience for Sustainability: Reliance Foundation’s Millet Experiences’, published on Tuesday, the firm recalled the upcoming ‘Swasti Annam’. It was established by seven women belonging to four self-help groups (SHGs) of village Sankhari, located 10 km away from Patan district headquarters.
How did Swasti Annam come into existence?
The Reliance Foundation was running initiatives across over 200 villages of Patan to provide economic empowerment to women.
As ideas for various women entrepreneurs and potential micro-enterprises were discussed with women’s self-help groups, facilitating a millet-based enterprise emerged as one of the options.
The Reliance Foundation supported training in making millet-based ready-to-eat products for Sanskruti SHG with the help of Manav Vikas Trust and NABARD under the Livelihood and Enterprise Development Programme (LEDP).
The women SHG further approached the Reliance Foundation for technical support for their existing business on millet-based products.
That was how the journey of ‘Swasti Annam’ began.
The goal of enhancing women’s income and mainstreaming women in the economy brought multiple stakeholders together for collaborative action and impact.
With the support of the Rural Business Incubation Centre of Sardarkrushinagar Dantiwada Agricultural University, Gujarat (SDAU-RBIC), NGO and NABARD, the SHGs received training on ‘ready to eat’ products from millets.
“Ready-to-eat produce refers to those that have been processed to a stage where they are ready to be consumed with limited preparation. These food items are usually packaged and stored under controlled conditions to ensure their freshness and quality. Ready-to-eat produce has become increasingly popular due to its convenience and time-saving benefits, making it a popular choice for consumers,” the report added.
The journey of Sanskruti SHG is about seven years old, and the idea of developing microenterprises for women in the millet sector came up in early 2023 and they received basic training for millet-based recipes from Dantiwada Agriculture University.
The second phase of their journey took about four months, from February to May, including approaching NABARD for equipment and further training.
They received the detailed training and machinery for the enterprises in May 2023. Post-training, women from four SHGs came together to build Swasti Annam.
Initially, the training covered about 120 women from 40 SHGs, but eventually, around seven women from four SHGs took up the challenge and made the enterprise sustainable
They established a Common Facility Centre (CFC) with equipment and machines valued at over Rs 2 lakh, for millet product making, supported by multiple partners including Manav Vikas Trust, NABARD and Rs 70,000 investment by four SHGs.
The business involves sourcing pearl millet (bajra), jowar (sorghum), and ragi (finger millet) produce from nearby areas and adjoining districts. These unprocessed millets undergo skilful processing to create a diverse range of ready-to-eat millet-based food products.
The process involves raw material (millet, jaggery, ghee) preparation, mixing, shaping, baking, checking quality, packing, branding and distribution/sale. The key variants for cookies and khakhra include pearl millet, jowar, ragi, multigrain, and some wheat-based products.
These items are not only sold within the local market but also distributed to neighbouring districts. The marketing strategy encompasses various channels, such as direct-to-customer sales, participation in fairs and exhibitions, and collaboration with small businesses.
The brand
Swasti Annam entered the value-added ready-to-eat millet products space in the first quarter of 2023. The brand is undergoing its registration proceedings. However, an FSSAI licence has been obtained under the name of Sanskruti.
Swasti Annam has ambitious plans to scale to become a successful enterprise model. They have accomplished their business presence and significance in just six months, but there is still a long way to go.
The Reliance Foundation aligns with these plans and leverages them to elevate, and diversify their product range with quality, facilitate participation in national-level fairs, and explore e-commerce avenues for a wider market.
“Reliance Foundation will continue to add value through its microenterprise development services, fostering a collaborative approach and impact to help women entrepreneurs scale their business across different cities in the state,” the report added.
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