Dr. Gunjan Joshi, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU) and fellow researcher Nyenrode Business Universiteit
Rashmi Bharti and Rajnish Jain, who had a spiritual orientation, moved away from a life where they could have a perfect city view to life in a village where the mighty snow-covered Himalayas greeted them with a fresh breeze every day. In the ’90s, when they decided to live a life close to nature that is sustainable and meaningful, little did they know that they would create a self-sustaining enterprise in a village that had no infrastructure, basic amenities like electricity and where the men in families were migrating to cities in search of employment.
The Kumaon region of Uttarakhand, India, is rich in natural resources. Many villages in Uttarakhand are known for their beautiful landscapes and sustainable lifestyles. Rashmi and Rajnish felt a connection with the Kumaon region. They understood the problems of the inhabitants. Though the village was rich in natural resources, the lack of opportunities for income generation was forcing the male members of the family to leave their village life and move to cities for employment. They decided to create opportunities for the villagers, especially for the women. In doing so, they were sensitive to the cultural context and focused on developing best practices to co-exist with the natural surroundings. This led to the establishment of ‘Avani’ in 1997, guided by sustainability and local empowerment principles. Avani produced handicraft products and used renewable resources like solar power, energy generated from pine needles, and rainwater harvesting to support their production process. The villagers, especially women, were trained to use computers for taking orders and keeping the inventory. The community was confident about their skills and traditional knowledge, making them believe in their employability skills.
In 2005, Avani established Kumaon Earthcraft Self-Reliant Cooperative (KEC). KEC is a community-owned enterprise. The local men and women hold leadership positions, and the training they receive at Avani helps them guide their decision-making process. The KEC produces handicraft products like stoles, hand-woven sarees, naturally dyed silk products, organic wall paints, organic crayons, and organic detergents.
Most of the employees are women with no education or dropouts. These women now earn a living by providing raw materials, weaving, knitting, or handloom. They now have a savings deposit in the bank. They happily spend their income on their family and can provide health services.
The founders have been able to create a community that has been able to preserve traditional knowledge and, at the same time, develop skills and competencies to help them develop sustainable careers. Their work is not just about earning a livelihood but also giving back to nature more than what is used in production. The community enterprise believes in the code of zero waste and leaving a minimum amount of carbon footprints. Entrepreneurs show responsibility toward how their product benefits the environment, consumers, society, and other stakeholders. They believe in preserving the purity of the products they produce, creating processes with the right intent, and co-existing with their natural surroundings. For example, the entire process of making a handloom saree or stole is organic and eco-friendly. The cloth is hand-woven and dyed using natural dyes. The eco-friendly fabric is herbal and provides benefits to the body. The community enterprise also makes organic detergents from soap nut trees, making it easy to restore the natural property of the cloth in the most eco-friendly manner.
The community members continue to introduce new products and designs in demand and think out of the box, as their intention is always to create products that can serve all types of consumers. For example, they started producing organic watercolors and crayons for children to avoid the use of harmful colors available in the market. This helps children to prevent the risk of getting exposed to hazardous substances.
This case of a community-based enterprise shows that environmental awareness develops confidence in employees, and workers’ expectations of themselves increase, which results in sustainable skill development. This case gives a micro-level explanation and understanding of how actions directed toward building the capability and skills of workers positively influence the employability of workers. Thereby explaining how the United Nations’ objective for sustainable growth can be met by handicraft and other small-scale manufacturing organizations that are specifically dependent on natural resources for their production.
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