Project Shakti is an alternative distribution system and a bottom-of-the-pyramid initiative created by Hindustan Lever Limited (HLL), a subsidiary of Unilever. Shakti allows HLL access to the previously untapped market of rural villages in India, which do not fit the traditional distribution infrastructure. Shakti is oriented to both income generation and community development. By targeting low-income populations, particularly women, this project addresses deep social problems - like iodine deficiency or diarrhea disease - by training Shakti women to provide education about products that address these health issues, and also making the products available in remote areas of the country.
Innovation
HLL and its constituent companies have been in India since 1931 and has consciously woven India's imperatives with the company's strategies and operations. The company’s main contributions include developing and using relevant technologies, stimulating industrialization, boosting exports, adding value to agriculture and generating productive employment and income opportunities.
HLL has been proactively engaged in rural development since 1976 with the initiation of the Integrated Rural Development Programme in the Etah district of Uttar Pradesh, in tandem with the company’s dairy operations. This program now covers 500 villages in the district. Subsequently, the factories that HLL continued establishing in less-developed regions of the country have been engaged in similar programs in adjacent villages. These factory-centered activities focus primarily on training farmers, animal husbandry, generating alternative income, health & hygiene and infrastructure development. A key success factor in these development efforts has been to create income-generating opportunities for the rural population. Such opportunities are successful and sustainable when linked with the company’s core business, thus becoming mutually beneficial to both the population for whom the program is intended and for the company.
Based on these insights, HLL launched Project Shakti in the year 2001, with the purpose of integrating business interests and national interests. Shakti is an HLL rural initiative which targets small villages with populations of less than 2000 people. It seeks to empower underprivileged rural women by providing income-generating opportunities and health and hygiene education through the Shakti Vani program, while creating access to relevant information through the iShakti community portal.
In general, rural women in India are underprivileged and need a sustainable source of income. NGOs, governmental bodies and other institutions have been working to improve the status of rural women. Shakti is a pioneering corporate effort in creating livelihoods for rural women. Shakti provides critically needed additional income to these women and their families by equipping and training them to become an extended arm of the company's sales and marketing operation.
Shakti Vani is a social communication program. Women trained in health and hygiene issues address village communities through meetings at schools, village baithaks, and other social forums. In 2004, Shakti Vani covered 10,000 villages in Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh and Karnataka. The vision is to cover 50,000 villages in 2005.
iShakti, the Internet-based rural information service, has been launched in Andhra Pradesh, in association with the Andhra Pradesh Government's Rajiv Internet Village Programme. The service is now available in Nalgonda, Vishakapatnam, West Godavari and East Godavari districts. iShakti has been developed to provide information and services to meet rural needs in medical health and hygiene, agriculture, animal husbandry, education, vocational training and employment and women's empowerment. The vision is to have 3,500 kiosks across the state by 2005.
Impact
Started in 2001, Shakti has already been extended to about 50,000 villages in 12 states - Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Chattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and West Bengal. The respective state governments and several NGOs are actively involved in the initiative.
Shakti already has about 13,000 women entrepreneurs in its fold. A typical Shakti entrepreneur earns a sustainable income of about Rs.700 -Rs.1,000 per month, which is double their average household income. Shakti is thus creating opportunities for rural women to live in improved conditions and with dignity, while improving the overall standard of living in their families. In addition, it involves health and hygiene programs, which help to improve the standard of living of the rural community. Shakti's already services about a 15 million person rural population. Plans are also being drawn up to bring in partners involved in agriculture, health, insurance and education to catalyze overall rural development.
HLL's vision for Shakti is to scale it up across the country, covering 100,000 villages and touching the lives of 100 million rural consumers by 2005.
Inspiration
"It is an initiative that is extremely close to my heart. At the centre of it, is the Shakti Entrepreneur whose life we are seeking to impact. The idea is to train these rural women to become micro-entrepreneurs, capable of independently earning a stable and steady income. This has led to a dramatic change in their lives and their status within the household and their society."
The World Inquiry editorial team edited this profile from the original submission of the interviewer or other source. The views expressed do not necessarily represent Case Western Reserve University, the Weatherhead School of Management or the Center for Business as an Agent of World Benefit. More >>
