Barefoot College

Barefoot Enriche Program Women as Agents of Susta inable Change Prepared by: Barefoot College International, Enriche team Prepared for: IDEO BridgeBuilder Challenge

Barefoot College

THE BAREFOOT COLLEGE The Barefoot College is a not for profit, grassroots, Social Enterprise that creates pathways to build more sustainable, self-sufficient and resilient rural communities, while valuing and respecting the knowledge and wisdom they already possess. It aims to create impact at scale through Public-Private-People partnerships model for decentralized, community owned solutions in the areas of Renewable Energy, Water, Livelihoods, Education, Communication, Health and Advocacy.

The College was founded in India in 1972 by Sanjit “Bunker” Roy, following the lifestyle and work style of Mahatma Gandhi. Is has today grown into an exceptional example of a decentralized management philosophy and capacity building from within, to deliver lasting and transformative impact via what has become known widely around the world, as the Barefoot Approach to community development:

• Engagement and Capacity Building of Local Civil Society and Community Based Organizations;

• Community Partnership model through Confidence, Competence and Ownership building;

• Decentralized and Democratic decision making

• Supporting Women as change agents, entrepreneurs and environmental stewards.

Implemented in more than 80 countries in collaboration with local NGOs and CBOs, Barefoot Solar Engineering flagship Program build the capacity for rural communities to manage and sustain Energy and Connectivity solutions, training non formally educated women to fabricate, assemble, install, maintain and repair solar home systems and solar lanterns with integrated phone charging solutions as well as set up Rural Hub with Solar Power, Connectivity and Digital Content dissemination servers.

THE ENRICHE PROGRAM Enriche invest in rural women as agents of sustainable change. It gives them the opportunity to embark on an empowerment journey ; a journey to gain the confidence, skills and knowledge they need to reach their full potential and to fulfill their aspirations.

Why Rural Women? Providing women from rural areas the opportunity to build thriving and self-reliant communities is the cornerstone to create a socially just, environmentally sustainable and harmonious world.

Women are the most efficient yet under-served agents of sustainable change. We have been a privileged witness to rural women’s aspirations and relentless effort to nurture and strengthen their communities, while preserving traditional wisdom, values and knowledge. As McKinsey study highlights, gender inequality is not only a pressing moral and social issue but also a critical 1

economic challenge. Fully closing gender gaps in would add as much as $28 trillion to annual GDP in 2025. We strongly believe that placing women at the heart of a development process is the most reliable and effective way to bring about large-scale and sustainable shifts in values and quality of life enhancement.

Isolated and economically marginalized rural villages are highly dependent on their immediate environment for survival and subsistence. Their vulnerability to depletion of natural resources and Climate Change effects lead to increased extreme poverty, urban migration and conflicts. The capacity of rural communities to preserve their land, the habitat of our Planet 80% biodiversity, is directly linked with their ability to create sustainable livelihoods.

Investing in women as agents of sustainable change for isolated rural communities is therefore paramount to build a brighter and more prosperous future for all.

!� McKinsey Global Institute: The power of parity: How advancing women’s equality can add $12 trillion to global growth1

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Our approach

Integrated!We believe that addressing the underlying structural and social barriers to women empowerment can only be achieved using a holistic and participatory approach. Enriche aims to provide rural women with the opportunity to gain confidence, practical knowledge and skills that are relevant to their life and priorities in eight areas: - Personal Empowerment: Self-Awareness and Agency, Women Health and Functional Digital Literacy; - Societal Empowerment: Human, Legal and Civil Rights, and Environmental Stewardship; - Economic Empowerment: Financial Inclusion, Micro-enterprise and Livelihood Skills. !Tailored !Enriche is tailored to the aspirations of women and their communities and takes into consideration local needs, opportunities and challenges. The Enriche journey starts by bringing to the surface the aspirations of the rural women it serves and offers pathways to support them in addressing their challenges by reaching their full potential. Participants are encouraged to analyze and recognize the value of practical knowledge and local wisdom. It is specifically designed for the non and semi-literate audience, using visual, audio, video and digital content developed in local languages. !Participatory !We view Education as“the practice of freedom, the means by which [one] deal critically and creatively with reality and discover how to participate in the transformation of their world.” Enriche workshops are designed to ensure there is no lecture and no 2

teacher. Discussions are based on factual information provided by facilitators, and participants are given the opportunity to start a critical thought process by sharing their own thoughts, beliefs and experiences. A structured curriculum forms the basis of an implementation approach comprising of interactive discussions, peer to peer learning and activities.

Enriche Building Blocks Enriche program acknowledge that women need tailored support at each step on their Empowerment journey from developing self-awareness to taking control over their life, from uplifting themselves out of poverty to becoming self reliant entrepreneurs. In that aim, the program is structured in 4 building blocks: !Block 1 - ENHANCE Objectives: Raising Awareness and Aspirations

Participatory Workshops , Tailored to Women Needs

An awareness, confidence and skills building journey. Offer participants an opportunity to (un)learn, reflect and envision their empowerment journey through group participatory workshops, across 7 key areas of knowledge.

In implementation phase.

Block 2 - ENABLE Objectives: Creating Sustainable Livelihoods

Providing Livelihood Skills, Assets & Handholding

Training on selected Livelihood skills relevant to local resources and market opportunities. Transfer of assets as “in kind” seed capital, implementation support and handholding.

In implementation phase.

Block 3 - ENGAGE Objectives: Overcome Social and Structural barriers

Via Community Outreach and Mobilization

Encourage participants to share their sk i l l s and knowledge within their communities. Provide support to transform community aspirations into practical actions and solutions.!In Design phase

Block 4 - EMPOWER Objectives: Empowered and Self-sufficient Entrepreneurs

Via Financial Services, Mentoring & Market Linkages

Provide participants with access to financial services, local mentoring opportunities and market linkages needed of them to become self-reliant and resilient entrepreneurs and agents of change. !In Research phase

� Richard Shaull, Pedagogy of the Oppressed2

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Enriche Social Enterprises Enriche Social Enterprises focuses on (1) Providing rural Women with a full understanding of the value chain including experiencing the virtuous cycle from thought inception to sales in a supportive structure. (2) Using centralised branding, Marketing and Sales strategy support to ensure success, confidence and competence. (3) Creating products and services that deliver social and environmental benefits.

Barefoot College Training Centers in India and abroad serve as Incubation Hubs, where Enriche enterprises benefit from a dedicated entrepreneurial team with local expertise ranging from technical training to end-consumer marketing. Transforming livelihood opportunities into vertically integrated Social Enterprises providing adequate support throughout the entire Value Chain.

Our Social Enterprises are adapted to the local needs and resources as well as market opportunities. Enterprises focusing on beekeeping, coffee farming, tailoring and traditional nutrition supplements have so far been launched under the B.Barefoot brand.

B.Barefoot Honey and Bees ByproductTraining rural women as beekeepers, providing them with skills and equipment needed to start beekeeping as an income generating activity in their area. Centralized activities such as sourcing the honey produced by women beekeepers, quality control, packaging and marketing ensure that women get a reliable income for the honey they harvest and customers get pure honey produced according to organic specifications.

B.Barefoot CoffeeSupporting women coffee farmers in producing high quality coffee beans through capacity building and market linkages. … Capacity building is implemented by a coffee farming master from the local region, it focuses on the sustainability of growing livelihood crops and introduces how we bring those crops into the market and how the consumer plans to use them.

The curriculum includes notions of permaculture, subsistence growing, and market farming. This creates an overlap between Livelihood and Environmental Stewardship modules; as all our wealth comes from the soil. The conclusion we desire students to make is that when we are good environmental stewards, we create sustainable livelihood.

B.Barefoot Tailoring

In Zanzibar, washable clothes pads called B.Pads are produced to offer adolescent girls and women an affordable, reliable, practical, hygienic and eco-friendly menstrual solution.

B.Barefoot Amritchuran

Following a pilot program proving the efficiency of this Indian traditional supplement in combating iron deficiency, a Social Enterprise was set up in Tilonia. It’s production unit employs two women and we are now developing distribution and sales channels in rural villages as well as urban markets.

Methodology Co-created!The curriculum is developed and delivered in collaboration with partner organizations. We learn from the experiences and expertise of other NGOs, Social Enterprises and Government programs to gather the most impactful and successful solutions.

Digital!Using digital tools and teaching material designed for non formally educated users, using visual, audio and video content. Harnessing the power of information technology and connectivity to record, create and share content.

Viral!Trained to share, women ensure that their skills and knowledge are transferred to their community. Participants are provided with tools to help them disseminate their leanings.

!

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!We believe every woman should be strong, safe, self-reliant, healthy, heard, respected, resilient, courageous and equal.

No exceptions.

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Annex

1 - ENHANCE curriculum coverage Self Awareness and Leadership !Being confident to express oneself and provided with the opportunity to bring forth fears, aspirations and hopes. Realizing one’s potential and mobilizing available resources to achieve individual and collective objectives.

Women Health!Being aware, comfortable and knowledgable about one’s body, starting a critical thought process around health related myths and social norms. Knowing basic hygiene practices. Understanding reproductive health and contraception, creating your own menstrual hygiene solutions. Improving diets to prevent malnutrition and common ailments.

Financial Inclusion!Making decisions with financial resources, and acquiring basic functional numeracy skills. Knowing how to make a budget, understanding the importance of savings. Understanding the benefits of having a bank account. Forming saving groups and accessing loans with the support of partner NGOs.

Digital literacy !Using a tablet, a smartphone or an LED TV to communicate and to share content. Playing and capturing digital audio-visual content. Having the opportunity to learn functional numeracy, literacy and language skills using digital applications.

Environmental Stewardship!Being aware of the local and global environmental interconnectedness. Understanding permaculture principles and applying agroecology solutions such as soil regeneration, compost making, generation and storage of seeds, and water management.

Human Rights and Civil Society!Raising awareness on basic human rights and responsibilities related to education, health, governance, gender, economic development. Forming issue based self-help groups to address challenges and participate in civil society.

Micro-Enterprise Skills!Understanding micro-enterprise concepts and basic skills such as planning, budgeting, recording cash flows and marketing to manage an individual enterprise or a cooperative. Accessing financial services and creating simple business models with the support of partner NGOs.

1 - ENABLE curriculum coverage

Beekeeping !Trainees receive both theoretical and practical courses during their training, completed by capacity building on specific activities at relevant periods during our regular follow up visits in their village, along with local beekeeper experts.

The beekeeping curriculum is composed of 13 modules and is adapted according to the different locations where we develop the beekeeping program (local environment, beehives, bees species).:

1 - Introduction to beekeeping

2 - Understanding beekeeping terms

3 - Honey bees in nature

4 - Life and biology of honey bees

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5 - Beekeeping equipment

6 - Getting bees

7 - Apiary site selection and maintenance

8 - Management throughout the year

9 - Harvesting honey

10 - Processing and storing honey

11 - Processing beeswax

12 - Bee plants

13 - Beekeeping business planning

!Coffee Farming!This curriculum is currently in development and is scheduled for pilot implementation in Andhra Pradesh, Fall 2017. It is being designed to focus on the sustainability of growing livelihood crops and introduces how we bring those crops into the market.

The curriculum includes notions of permaculture, subsistence growing, and market farming. This creates an overlap between Livelihood and Environmental Stewardship modules because wealth comes from the soil. The conclusion we desire students to make is that when we are good environmental stewards, that is to say we keep the canopy or that we preserve the fertility of our soil, only then can we create sustainable livelihood, and as a bonus create a healthy ecosystem in which to live and raise a family.

The current curriculum looks as such, but may be subject to change:

1 - Soil

2 - Nursing: Sowing to Seedlings

3 - Planting Coffee and Companion Plants

4 - Harvesting

5 - Processing I

6 - Processing II

7 - Processing III

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