CRAFTING COLLECTIVE GAIN

Access Livelihoods Group was established in 2005 in Hyderabad, Telangana. It is a collective of social enterprises that by choice works with women and youth from marginalized communities to reimagine and transform their livelihoods. The group comprising of six entities extend comprehensive services to enable enterprise incubation and employment opportunities. As a group, we offer end to end support including pre-incubation, incubation, and acceleration support programs. These professional services are delivered by a team of 60+ passionate individuals who have graduated from some of India's best institutions and have consciously chosen the road less traveled.

Chitrika as part of AL group has been working with artisans since last 15 years. Currently it has expanded its vision to work with farmers and other marginal communities in developing sustainable value-chains vis a vis enterprises. Visit www.alcindia.org for more details.

For craft to thrive and for artisans to celebrate their lives as producers in this fast-paced tech-driven economy, there is a need to redefine the value chain in favour of the artisan. Our core mission is to work with artisans to co-create sustainable and successful business enterprises that are owned & operated by the artisans themselves. With direct access to the customer, producers can interact with the market and grow their collectives to mutually benefit both the producer and the consumer.

We strike a balance between retaining the authenticity of the craft and effectively adapting to appropriate technology and fair business practices to leverage cost and production efficiency. This enables us to create prosperity for artisans while playing fair with all the service providers in the value chain who help sustain the craft.

What We Craft

A continuous process, we bring artisans together as a collective and address all the factors that can build a successful, sustainable enterprise:

  • Reorienting them on the concept of ‘collective gain’ and building community leadership
  • Reorienting their innate skills to engage with the market
  • Effective product innovation
  • Working across the value chain for efficient production systems
  • Empowering them with enterprise management skills & technology
  • Supporting them with access to finance

We believe the above approach greatly increases artisan incomes and also helps them get a better share in the value chain. The Vamshadhara Weavers’ Producer Company and the Godavari Women Weavers’ Services Producer Company are testimonies to the kind of ‘artisan-owned’ enterprises we seek to build.

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SERVICES

From bringing artisans together as a collective, reorienting their innate skills to engage with the market and empowering them with enterprise management skills & technology, to supporting them with access to finance and working across the value chain to create an effective business eco-system, our approach addresses all the factors that weave a sustainable craft eco-system.

The Srikakulam Weaver Cluster & East Godavari Weaver Cluster standout as success stories of our finesse in building sustainable craft collectives. We have enabled artisans to form collectives that push their income levels, increase market engagement, and build & hone their business skills.

Explore our Services

 

RESOURCES

At Chitrika Foundation, we place a high value on learning and exchanging insights with our clients, peers & vendors. We believe that the Indian craft sector is best served by a professional community where members help each other and grow together.

Our resources section is a step towards fostering the free-flow of knowledge and discussion. It contains annual learning reports, where we have documented our experiences since 2005, as well as studies our team has published. We welcome our peers and interested professionals to explore this section for reference.


Browse Resources

contribute

You can add to our efforts through volunteering, by donating in cash/kind or connecting us to resources. You can mail us at hello@chitrikafoundation.org.