A spinoff from the Self-Employed Women’s Association of India, SEWA Trade Facilitation Centre (STFC) improves market access for female artisans so that they can earn a livelihood producing traditional handicrafts. Working in the arid Kutch and Patan districts in Gujarat, India, STFC is a cooperative network that includes artisans in every phase of the business, including micro-financing, management training, social security, product development, pricing, quality control and distribution. STFC’s unique understanding of “first-mile production” and “last-mile distribution” is encapsulated in its own brand, Hansiba, under which the artisans’ work is marketed.
“I want, and am very sure that all my artisan sisters want our inherited traditional work to live after them and in SEWA we can do that.”
– Rudiben Jivabhai Rava, Artisan Shareholder