Who We Are - Swayam Shikshan Prayog

Vision

To build a robust partnership ecosystem that enables grassroots women’s networks to access skills training, financial and digital literacy, and technology and marketing platforms.

Mission

To promote inclusive, sustainable community development by empowering women in low income climate threatened communities/regions. Swayam Shikshan Prayog repositions women’s collectives by training them as farmers and entrepreneurs and thereby increasing their economic and social resilience.

Our Approach

To promote inclusive, sustainable community development by empowering women in low income climate threatened communities/regions. Swayam Shikshan Prayog repositions women’s collectives by training them as farmers & entrepreneurs & thereby increasing their economic & social resilience.

SSP’s core partnership approach has enabled a wide range of stakeholders that enable grassroots women’s networks to access skills & entrepreneurship, finance, technology & marketing platforms.

SWAYAM – self-empowerment by catalysing women’s participation and leadership to collectivise as farmers and entrepreneurs and be aware of their potential, entitlements, financial and digital inclusion, and opportunities linked to the government and market systems
SHIKSHAN – Continuous education and learning processes to enhance the status and agency of women learning & to resolve their household and community challenges
PRAYOG – Experimenting with solving problems and creating solutions at the grassroots on issues/priorities ranging from climate resilient agriculture and food security, entrepreneurship, water conservation and protection of natural resources.

Over the last two decades, Swayam Shikshan Prayog has built a movement of grassroots women leaders who see opportunities in challenges.

SSP’s transformative models in key sectors like climate-resilient agriculture, health, and water & sanitation are creating impact in India’s most underserved communities.

SSP’s core partnership approach has enabled a wide range of stakeholders that enable grassroots women’s networks to access skills & entrepreneurship, finance, technology & marketing platforms. SSP focuses on transformational changes by providing technical support & building capacities of women through its trained Sakhi cadres & leaders. Rural women are ambitiously repositioned by SSP teams, as problem solvers, innovators & planners. Be it water, food security, agriculture & livelihoods & access to social protection, women’s collectives or Village Action Groups tackle these issues head on while women leaders take on new public roles that are aligned so they achieve convergence with Panchayat, government & market systems.

SSP follows a structured approach for connecting women leaders with the government systems for establishing a sustainable process. The women leaders are trained to work closely with key government officials. The close interaction with the government at various levels has helped them to create a two-level network.

History

Swayam Shikshan Prayog (SSP) was established in 1998, four years after partnering with the Government of Maharashtra on the Latur earthquake reconstruction project(1200 villages), where SSP reshaped a beneficiary program into a successful community women led effort.

SSP made a choice to focus its efforts to build women as change makers in water-scarce, drought-prone regions across seven states of India. Today, majority of its efforts are with women’s farmer collectives in the Marathwada region in Maharashtra.

SSP has reached out to over 6 million people, and empowered over 300,000 women mostly from farming communities to revitalise agriculture and enterprise, and take on the roles of decision makers in their households, communities and local economies. SSP has received several global and national awards, such as the UNDP Equator award for women and agriculture, UNFCCC Lighthouse climate change and Schwab Foundation Social Entrepreneur award, between 2017-2019.

Building Resilience

Problem Solving

Forging Relationships

Eco-System Creation

Key Milestones

Promoted Women Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Value Chain initiatives and Women-led Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs)
SSP’s recent flagship initiative, “Women’s Initiative to Learn and Lead” (WILL), focuses on women’s agency and leadership, enabling them to participate in governance, address critical issues at home and in the community, and empower other women.
Scale up of WCRF with Marathwada District Transformation Model along with focus on climate smart technology with women leadership.

Scaling up of WCRF model focusing on low-carbon farming practices, Digital upskilling of women entrepreneurs, Scaling up of access to innovative and affordable energy efficient solutions for rural populations.
Under the umbrella of National Rural Livelihood Mission, Swayam Shikshan Prayog was selected among 355 applications to partner with the Start Up Village Entrepreneurship Program (SVEP) creating a network of Community Resource Persons (CRPs) to further support 4800 women as entrepreneurs across two blocks in Solapur district from 2016 to 2020.
Swayam Shikshan Prayog is implementing the Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana (MKSP) initiative (2016-ongoing) with the Government of Maharashtra to support over 21,000 women farmers to adopt improved agriculture practices in 450 villages across two districts in Maharashtra through a cadre of Community Resource persons, chosen from Swayam Shikshan Prayog’s cadres of agriculture leaders.
wSHARP – Women-led Sanitation, Hygiene and Resilient Practices – community-govt partnership project for 10,000 families in 100 villages supported by UNICEF.
Scaling Up women’s Leadership and Value Chains supported by E.U, Affiliation with National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and the DIC – Digital Corporation of India on skills for entrepreneurship and digital skills.
In Odisha, SSP has been working with ORRISSA NGO on Community Resilience Fund for Climate Adaptation project 2018-2021 in 25 villages of Ganjam, Malkangiri & Kandamal districts. Women leaders in climate affected areas are taking initiatives in building community resilience through agriculture & livelihood practices in Odisha. Grassroots leadership has achieved recognition at local level in planning responses to climate change & facilitating resilience fund management in women-led, vulnerability reducing climate resilience initiatives.
The Resilience Initiatives in COVID crisis, supported by Huairou Commission, SSP focuses on advancing women’s leadership through community enterprises and awareness building in COVID crisis in 50 villages across Osmanabad, Solapur and Wayanad districts. Empowered women leadership will facilitate Community Resilience Fund (CRF) to scale up community resilience practices and leverage resources from government through dialogues and advocacy.
WASH sensitive COVID intensive Gram Panchayat preparedness & community resilience in Multi hazard profile covering three districts of Osmanabad, Solapur & Latur in Maharashtra. Reverse migrants, vulnerable groups in 250 villages with a focus on children, women & aged population, small, marginal farmers, population without ration card, & unskilled labours. Directly benefiting 250,000 population & indirectly benefiting 1 million population supported by UNICEF.
Breaking the Chain – A Multi Sector Approach to Address Malnutrition in Maharashtra project supported by GIZ and Welthungerhilfe aims to contribute to improved food and nutrition security through behavior change at household level and improved access to government programs in the 100 Covid-19 affected communities across three blocks in Ahmednagar and Aurangabad districts in Maharashtra.
Food and Nutrition Security – A Multi Sector Approach to Increasing resilience of vulnerable communities in Maharashtra project supported by GIZ and Welthungerhilfe will build strong collaboration with the Department of Women and Child Development in Washim, District Administrative Structure and Front-line Workers in Washim district of Maharashtra to implement the project initiatives.
In 2021, over 700 women leaders are transforming communities to fully vaccinated status with COVID-19 vaccinations with SSP’s engagement with the Osmanabad district administration

Created the Swayam Shikshan Prayog Group of Social Enterprises to provide women entrepreneurs access to skills, finance, and markets and technology in partnership with mainstream institutions.

The wPOWER program – a USAID India supported innovative market-based partnership model, empowered over 1000 rural women as clean energy entrepreneurs and energy leaders to market clean cookstoves, biofuel, solar lamps and lights impacting the lives of over one million people across Maharashtra and Bihar.

Exploration of climate resilient approaches for farming and livelihoods and innovation of diverse models for women led agriculture to reduce the impact of climate change in the states of Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Bihar.

Pathbreaking model of Climate Resilient Farming in 530 drought affected villages in Maharashtra.

Swayam Shikshan Prayog created an ecosystem to support women to succeed in hitherto untapped markets. First of its kind co-creation between grassroots women’s groups and large companies to create a clean energy product and business model.

Launched innovative business models based on non-traditional products as income generators for vulnerable communities.

We nurtured enterprises that offered platforms for rural women to build products that benefited the community, and assisted these businesses to grow through training, mentoring and access to capital and business knowledge.

Swayam Shikshan Prayog developed a model for disaster management, reconstruction and building community resilience that had the potential for worldwide replication.

Swayam Shikshan Prayog developed a widespread network of 100,000 women in Self Help Groups and Sakhi Federations that went beyond savings and credit groups to creating large scale livelihood opportunities in key impact sectors such as clean energy, agriculture & nutrition, health, water & sanitation to build social, political and economic competencies for its women members.

Women took on roles of public leadership, got elected to Gram Panchayats, village and block level committees and engaged with local governments and took action on issues of sanitation, housing, health and water.

Swayam Shikshan Prayog was formally registered in 1998, based on five year efforts on community-led reconstruction partnership using a women-led approach with the Government, after the 1993 Latur earthquake.

By 1998, the rehabilitation project was completed; ordinary women in 1300 villages were empowered to lead from the front as “Samvad Sahayaks” or community facilitators.