From village to world

All it takes is a click, a comment and a message. From Kilara village tucked away near Jog Falls, packets of dried fruits, papads and ghee are put together and shipped off to Mumbai. A second packet is couriered to Bengaluru, and a third to Delhi. The happy buyers comment positive reviews and recommend these products to their friends. More orders flood in, more products are packaged and shipped out.

. This is how Amrutha Hegde began her small business. For the past 15 years, Amrutha and her family had been selling organic products in their village in Uttara Kannada district. However, during Covid-19, like many others, they lost their primary livelihood.

. It was at this time that Amrutha wished to start her own business to support her family. Through her neighbours, she heard about 'Mahila Marukatte', a Facebook group where women entrepreneurs market their homemade products.

. Once she promoted her products on the online group, she began receiving orders from across the country and connecting directly with the buyers. "Putting our products online has helped us take them from the village to the world,” says Amrutha.

. Across the villages of Uttara Kannada, in hundreds of homes, many women like Amrutha have begun to market their homemade products like banana, jackfruit papad, jackfruit pulp, chips, dried fruits, clothing, jewellery and handmade soaps through social media.

. Online platform

. One of the first initiatives of its kind, ‘Mahila Marukatte’ was started during the first lockdown by Aparna Rao (50), a small-business owner herself.

. “When the lockdown was first imposed, many friends in my social circle had lost their jobs. I watched them struggle to make ends meet, and how detrimental this had been to their mental health. This is when I started a Facebook group where I posted my own products and invited other women entrepreneurs like me to share their creations as well,” said Aparna, on the creation of this community. “I never expected it would grow at this pace and scale, or that we would be able to touch the lives of so many women.”

. The growth in the lives of these women entrepreneurs extends beyond monetary gain, Aparna emphasised. “Women who once depended on others for their livelihood now run a business employing four others. This has transformed the very dynamics of many homes. There is financial security, of course, but also greater mutual respect in marriages and freedom for women.”

. The Facebook group has now grown to a membership of 45,000 women. With around 200 requests to join the group each day, it is requiring a full-time post-approval moderator and four part-time administrators.

. “We do not interfere between the buyer and seller directly unless there are complaints. But there are hundreds of purchases through the group each week and we work hard to make sure that the community continues to grow as a safe, trusted space for verified sellers and high-quality products,” said Shobha Rao (41), one of the administrators.

. The group requires all sellers to officially register, and they now have 200-odd women entrepreneurs coming from different districts in Karnataka including Uttara Kannada, Shivamogga, Vijayapura and Dakshina Kannada.

. The Mahila Marukatte community also organises webinars on health, photography, packaging and art.

. Together they grow

. “Our main goal is to encourage home industries. We want to highlight self-made products and help women who do not have business expertise or the knowledge and facilities to start their own initiatives,” said Shobha.

. “Middle-class families really struggled with the loss of their livelihoods due to the pandemic. We wanted to give women a way out – a chance to build their livelihood. They already had the talent, the raw material and the dream. We only gave them a little boost through our platform."

. With most of these women entrepreneurs coming from villages, many of the products are traditional ingredients and family recipes passed down through generations.

. According to Veena S, a regular buyer from Bengaluru, the authenticity of the products is the market’s greatest appeal. “I get to buy flour, masala powders and other natural products which are hard to make. Until now, it was hard to even find these items in the market. For instance, I had been looking for pure arrowroot powder for a long time. Most stores mix cornflour with it. However, I was quite happy to find unadulterated, organic arrowroot powder at a reasonable price through this group.”

. Being able to contact the sellers directly has also been a boon. “Before this, there was no way for us to connect directly with the farms and homes where our food is being made. Now, we are able to speak to the women selling these items, and even customise the products we order.”

. Similar communities

. The emergence of Mahila Marukatte has also spurred the growth of other similar communities for women of different regions. Ganga Hegde (52), an entrepreneur from Hosur village in Sirsi sells organic baby food on one of these new platforms, Namma Malnad Marukatte. “Having a local online market has been very helpful during the lockdown when we were not able to put up stalls at melas and village festivals. Thanks to these markets, we were able to grow even during the pandemic,” she said.

. Besides providing an enabling platform for selling, these online communities also provide digital education to women. On her experience with learning, Ganga said, “I didn’t even know how to use a smartphone or the internet. My son and daughter-in-law helped me set up a Facebook account, and I learnt how to take pictures, post and even set up online payments through these groups.”

. In March this year, the first Mahila Marukatte Mela was held in Bengaluru where these entrepreneurs were given 42 free stalls. This gave them the opportunity to meet other entrepreneurs and the online team members in person for the first time. They hope to organise more melas in metro cities and villages to showcase women's homemade products.

. For Aparna and her group of like-minded Facebook friends, the empowerment of women is the ultimate goal. “The greatest gift we are able to give these women is a way to achieve self-reliance. The confidence that comes from being able to earn on your own and support your family during tough times is unlike anything else.”

. For women like Ganga, Amrutha, and many others, these initiatives have opened up a whole new world of business, marketing and learning.

From village to world

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