Women Entrepreneurship-Livelihood Enhancement And Development (WE-LEAD) Program in Odisha.

Supported by: Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI)

Implemented by: Odisha State Association of Financial Inclusion Institutions (OSAFII) together with its Member MFIs/Organizations in Odisha.

Promoting and sustaining Livelihood opportunities for poor and their households has been considered as one of the key priorities of the Government and other development agencies, especially in India and the state like Odisha. Experiences across different regions have proved that access to customized trainings on entrepreneurship and skill building inputs can help substantially to promote, expand and sustain livelihoods opportunities for poor. Women make almost half of the population, therefore, to drive economic growth, it is imperative to empower them. Microenterprises encourage self-employment to a large extent. In addition to Govt line Departments, various other stakeholders including NABARD, SIDBI, Banks, MFIs, NGOs etc. have been taking up different schemes and programs to promote and strengthen enterprises among poor, with a focus on women members.
With a noble intent to support and strengthen entrepreneurships, the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) designed a livelihood and enterprise focused program, “Women Entrepreneurship-Livelihood Enhancement And Development (WE-LEAD)” and extended financial assistance to various institutions/ partners to implement that. OSAFII was also selected as a project partner to implement the WE-LEAD program in Odisha. The WE-LEAD program was launched in March ’2022 at Chilika, Khurdha, Odisha, in the presence of the Chairman and Managing Director of SIDBI, other Officials from SIDBI, President-OSAFII and Member MFIs and Women Clients. A MoU was signed between SIDBI and OSAFII in April 2022 at SIDBI State Office, Odisha. After that the preparatory work was undertaken by OSAFII to implement the programme in an effective manner.
With a view to have larger stakeholding and better impacts, OSAFII also involved 11 of its Member MFIs, such as Annapurna Finance Pvt Ltd, Arohan Financial Services Ltd, Adhikar Microfinance Pvt Ltd, Asirvad Microfinance Ltd, Bharat Financial Inclusion Ltd, Credit Access Grameen Ltd, GU Financial Services Pvt Ltd, Muthoot Microfin Ltd, Sampurna BC Pvt Ltd, Satin Credit Care Ltd and UNITY Small Finance Bank in the implementing process. In addition to contributing partly for the project budget, MFIs also provided their credit support for the potential women entrepreneurs to start and expand their respective enterprises.
The main purpose of WE-LEAD program was to promote and strengthen entrepreneurships among Women SHGs/JLGs Members in the target areas. The Overarching Goal of the project was “Promoting 12,000 Women Entrepreneurs from among SHGs/JLGs Members through Capacity Building-EDP/Skill Training & Business Development Services in Odisha” The project was originally planned to be implemented in 12 Districts, including 10 Aspirational Districts and 02 Non-Aspirational Districts of Odisha. However, later on, based on the learnings in the first year of project implementation, it was decided to limit the implementation in 06 districts only, namely Kalahandi, Balangir, Kandhamal, Gajapati, Dhenkanal and Khordha for better impacts through intense mentoring and handhold support to women to establish their enterprises. It was proposed to cover the remaining 06 districts in the next phase. The duration of the project was 24 months initially (April’2022 to March’2024), however, the project period was extended later up to March ’2025 mainly to complete all planned activities, with additional budgetary provisions.

OSAFII completed 03 years in implementing the WE-LEAD program in Odisha. Sarting from April’2022, OSAFII undertook various planned activities including organizing the Inception Meetings, Undertaking
Baseline Surveys, Developing EDP Training Manual/Modules in Odia, Organizing Training of Trainers (ToTs) and Refresher Programmes for Project & MFI Staff, Imparting Module-wise EDP Trainings and Trade/Service-wise Skill Trainings to Women SHG/JLG Members, Facilitating Business/Enterprise Plans, Credit Linkages, Buyers & Sellers Meets, Undertaking Mid-Term Review, Organizing PAC Meetings, District level Sharing Workshops, Mentoring to Women Entrepreneurs, liaisoning with stakeholders and monitoring the program activities etc. during the project period. As planned, an impact assessment of the project was also carried out by an independent Organization: DCOR Consulting Pvt Ltd, in Feb-March’2025. As part of its assessment process, the study team undertook the field surveys and had interviews with 900 women members. The team also had interactions with various stakeholder, OSAFII-WE-LEAD staff to better understand the project design and implementation processes, key objectives and activities, deliverables, progress updates and accomplishments etc. of WE-LEAD program in Odisha, record and report on that.
The key observations/findings of the impact assessment confirm the fact that WE-LEAD was planned and implemented quite well in the state. Imparting need-based trainings on entrepreneurships and trade/service specific skill trainings to Women SHG/JLG members was one of the key deliverables of the project. In view of that OSAFII prepared a comprehensive EDP Training Manual along with Modules, Posters, and Handbooks in Odia and utilized that for imparting Training of Trainers (ToTs) to project staff who in turn organized module-wise EDP trainings for women members in the project areas. In the process altogether 15,959 (projection was 15,000) Women SHG/JLG Members were covered through EDP trainings and out of that 12,971 (projection was 12,000) Potential Women Entrepreneurs were given trade and service specific skill trainings.

The process for setting-up of new enterprises or expanding the existing ones was supported by a well-designed cycle including Business Mapping, Selection of specific Enterprise and analysis of that, developing enterprise-wise business development plans, credit linkages from Banks and NBFC-MFIs, market linkages and business formalization etc. It was encouraging to note that the WE-LEAD program in Odisha was able to help set-up and strengthen about 12,702 enterprises, 6,640 Existing 6,062 New enterprises (projection was 12,000) in the areas during the project period. The Program facilitated ₹71.03 crore as credit linkages for the women entrepreneurs. Business development services, including 18 buyers-sellers meets, enhanced market access for over 1,000 women entrepreneurs, connecting them with financial institutions, Govt agencies, and local traders. Notably, about 359 women obtained their Udyam Registration Certificates, marking a significant milestone in formalizing their entrepreneurial journey. The impact of the above-mentioned customized trainings and mentoring services for enterprise creation and expansion translated into tangible economic outcomes. The average income from existing businesses increased significantly from ₹4,424 before training to ₹7,443 post-training, showing a 68% rise. New entrepreneurs also achieved an average income of ₹6,110, reflecting a strong start in their business journey. Majority of the women entrepreneurs planned to reinvest their income in expanding their enterprises and improving household well-being. OSAFII is very much thankful to SIDBI, its Member MFIs, other key Stakeholders in the district/state and importantly to all Women Members. Based on the above positive experiences, OSAFII has planned to scale up the WE-LEAD program to other districts including in the remaining Aspirational districts and looking forward for financial contributions from SIDBI and other support agencies for the project.