Increasing Our Impact: Mela Artisans Partners with AIACA
One of the many ways that Mela Artisans works to promote social uplift in artisan communities is partnering with existing cooperatives or associations. These groups are conglomerates of many smaller, less organized artisan clusters that might otherwise be unable to reach a global market. One such association that Mela is excited to work with is the All India Artisans and Craftworkers Welfare Association (AIACA).
An artisan from one of AIACA’s many member groups.
Formed in March 2003 as an informal group of different NGOs and artisan groups throughout India, the idea for the organization emerged from discussions between some of the current members of AIACA’s board. Taking the lead were William Bissell, the Managing Director of FabIndia, the country’s largest chain of retail home décor and clothing stores, and Laila Tyabji, the Chairperson of Dastkar, a NGO that supports craftspeople throughout India. Long involved in the handicrafts sector in India, they noted that although many individual organizations engaged the government on issues such as changing unclear policies, reforming tax regulations, and improving access to credit and social security services for craftworkers, there was little lasting impact due to the isolated nature of these attempts.
A female artisan from Dastkar Ranthambore in Rajasthan. Many of AIACA’s members are in the textile industry.
The founders also felt that the government often gave the handicrafts sector a low priority, despite it being the second largest employer in the country after agriculture. They theorized that this was due to the lack of organization among the wide range of craftworkers’ organizations and groups, many operating in the informal sector. Additionally, increased economic and trade liberalization in India created both new threats and opportunities for the sector, and to address these threats and leverage the new opportunities, there was a need for proactive research to support policymaking.
Women from AIACA partner organization, Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA).
From this philosophy, Bissell, Tyabji and their like-minded colleagues, created a membership-based body that would represent craftworkers at the national level, articulating their needs and advocating for favorable policies for the sector. However, AIACA’s work in the initial years proved that providing policy inputs was not adequate; many producer groups first needed access to markets and to technical assistance. Hence, the focus of AIACA’s work expanded to create programs and platforms that would assist craft producers to showcase their products and become commercially sustainable organizations. Now AIACA implements a wide range of initiatives, including policy advocacy and research, development of sector-wide standards and norms and support for entrepreneurs.
Artisans attending an AIACA-sponsored workshop on sector issues.
Policy Advocacy and Research
AIACA is creating a national policy research and advocacy network for the handloom and handicrafts sectors. A dearth of organized data and information and the unorganized nature of the sector prevent voices of change from effectively being heard. Therefore, in the last few years AIACA has commissioned various studies like Access to Credit for Craftworkers, Handloom Cooperative Reform, Yarn Supply, Baseline study on Environment, Occupational Health and Safety issues in the crafts sector etc. Various national-level workshops and consultations are also organized to engage various stakeholders like the government, private business and grassroots-level NGO’s.
Local news coverage about a AIACA-sponsored workshop on weavers health.
Craftmark
Liberalization of the Indian economy has created many threats and opportunities for the Indian crafts sector. While there is a great demand for handicrafts in India and abroad, there is also fierce competition from low-cost, machine-made products masquerading as handicrafts. The Craftmark initiative is an effort by AIACA to help denote genuine Indian handicrafts, develop sector-wide minimum standards and norms for labeling a product as a handicraft product, and increase consumer awareness of distinct handicraft traditions. Craftmark authenticates craft processes to be handmade and provides the use of the Craftmark trademark as verification of authentic craft processes.
Enterprise Support Program (ESP)
The Enterprise Support program was started by AIACA based on the need for craft producers to acquire the technical knowledge and professional expertise required to scale up their business operations. The program provides business-development and capacity building inputs, and enables producer groups to expand and streamline their operations in order to become commercially sustainable.
Artisans from Industree in Karnataka.
Mela Artisans is pleased to support AIACA’s efforts in the handicrafts sector and thus positively impact the lives of artisans and entrepreneurs. By collaborating with AIACA and similar cooperatives, Mela Artisans can expand the number of artisan groups with which we work. AIACA acts as the liaison between these groups and Mela – ensuring that the artisans have improved access to global markets while also providing social benefits that would otherwise be unavailable. By choosing to work with AIACA (and through them, their various members), Mela demonstrates a continued commitment to our vision: improved livelihoods for artisans across the globe.
