Helping the Poor Become Sustainable through Self Help and Income Generation

The concept of Sustainable Development is simple. It's a type of development that helps people survive by supporting local, natural processes. It's a new type of development that cares for the environment and helps communities learn how to take care of theirself. It's happening in various forms in low income countries around the world with projects for harvesting rain water, organic farming and food and handicraft production. These projects serve as an income generating opportunity for many rural, low income communities who use local resources and skills to create a sustainable livelihood to care for their family. In India, I learned about many groups collecting and selling honey, organic milk, preserving fruit for jams and producing natural soaps. Many communities traditionally grow organic herbs, fruits and vegetables and survive off of local resources which they often use to earn an income with. There is a big focus on women empowerment and one of the biggest areas of work involves women groups who use traditional art to produce woolen items, textile products and handicrafts. Unfortunately, many families are stuck in poverty because they don't have the necessary capital, market support or knowledge to develop their work and create a profitable, sustainable business for supporting their family in the long run.

In the last 10-20 years, there has been a greater focus on self sustainability for the poor and various NGOs around the world are working with individuals, artisans and farmers to provide training and business support to help them run their own self employment venture. Cooperatives and Self Help Groups are formed which are democratically governed by the members and include savings and healthcare schemes. The profits come directly back to the producers to care for their family and invest in community development. Many of these projects are part of the Fair Trade Movement which helps artisans and farmers in countries like India and Kenya, earn a fair price for their products in the global market. Popular products include handicrafts and food items, such as coffee, tea, chocolate, sugar and bananas. Fair trade retailers and producers are dedicated to a list of guidelines that includes paying fair wages, working in healthy conditions, promoting gender equity and supporting environmental sustainability. Consumers in the West can go to their local market and purchase products with Fair Trade certified labels on them and help create demand for a new movement of social responsibility and ethical consumerism.

The term Social Entrepreneurship relates to business ventures that create social change in communities. This is exactly what these projects are and it includes things like Fair Trade, Microfinance and Women Empowerment. Thanks to the Grameen Bank, low income families are recieving small loans and marketing support for helping to start a business that will help them create a sustainable income to provide health and education for their family. Whether it’s a milk cooperative or a women's Self Help Group, these are the projects that are improving many lives and helping people in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia get out of poverty. Check out these websites to learn more.
http://www.fairtraderesourcenetwork.org/
http://www.tenthousandvillages.com/
http://www.equalexchange.com/
http://www.worldofgood.org/
http://www.aidtoartisans.org/