INTRODUCTION
Project 'Irtiqa' (Urdu for evolution) is a socio-entrepreneurial project of Enactus Jamia Millia Islamia based in the vicinity of Jamia Nagar, Okhla. The project supports the objectives put down by the National Bamboo Mission of India and the United Nations' goals for sustainable development. With a demand of an estimated 26 million metric tons, the industry is expected to significantly grow further in the near future, transforming it into a buzzing ground for small entrepreneurs. Being the second largest producer of bamboo all over the world, the bamboo industry in India is a booming hot-spot creating an approximate profit of Rs.9,000 crores for the country.
MISSION
“The bamboo that bends is stronger than the oak that resists”. The project aims to create an alternative to the depleting source of business for the local community of the woodworkers by introducing them to the art of bamboo handicrafts. Bamboo is an easily available raw material which is eco-friendly and helps us to hold up our core value that is sustainable development.
OVERVIEW
- Indian artisans are globally recognized for their handicrafts. However, due to industrialization and cheap production of plastic, the artisans continue to face substantial losses over the years.
- Residing in the suburbs of South East Delhi, the community of Khadda wood workers has experienced a loss of 50-55% of their profits to the middlemen and exhaustion of interests in showcases. Such losses necessitated the requirement for an alternate method of livelihood for them. The raw material they used was also quite expensive which further added to their problems.
- This is where we took the opportunity to help the Khadda wood-workers community and made them switch to the bamboo craft business. This helped in cutting them off from the exploitation and the under-paid slavery that they were being subjected to by the dire working conditions.
- Bamboo can be grown in almost any climatic condition and is already largely grown in the Jamia Nagar area making it even more suitable for a smooth supply chain, added to that this low cost raw material leads to an increase in the actual profit.
GOALS
- Revival of the depleting business opportunities for the community of Khadda woodworkers by introducing them to bamboo handicrafts.
- Cutting off the production cost by eliminating the interference of middlemen and thus, increasing the final profit by exposing the community to larger markets.
- Training the workers in the craft of making bamboo-products while also ensuring that safety measures are taken care of with provision of gloves, aprons and safety masks.
- Promotion of digital literacy and imparting life-skills of digital marketing on e-commerce websites, digital payment, enabling them with skills to manage inventory, handling logistics like delivery and packaging on their own.
- Bamboo absorbs greenhouse gases 5 times more efficiently than wood and thus proves to be a ‘Climate-smart Solution’ hence promoting sensitization regarding the alarming environmental concerns.
- Bamboo emits 30% more oxygen and absorbs substantial amounts of carbon emission hence making our project at par with the 2018 Paris Summit’s objective to limit the global warming level at 1.5°C.
- Ensuring zero-waste in production by using the remains of the bamboo to manufacture edible products such as pickles.
EMPOWERMENT
- We provided the wood workers with better entrepreneurial skills to make them capable of financial autonomy and a sustainable business model to guide them in that direction.
- They were also exposed to a larger digital market, making them at par with the modern day technological advancements while also exposing them to new areas of marketing and business.
IMPACT
- Raw material for our community is now available at a cheaper price increasing their income exponentially.
- We have actively spread awareness regarding ‘Green Building’ which utilizes bamboo as an alternative to hardwood.
- The bamboo products manufactured were sold in local markets like INA Haat and e-commerce websites such as Amazon and Enactus JMI Store.
WAY FORWARD
- As we continue to strengthen our brand name and expand our project, we plan to move one step further through the production of bamboo charcoal, which is widely used for water purification and has other health benefits. We also plan to take the project to greater heights by introducing our own collection of space-saving furniture. Due to COVID-19 raging over the world, we have also planned to switch towards online marketplace as a precautionary measure against the pandemic.
NEEDS
We seek to fulfil the three aspects of need: The social and the economic needs of the community and the environmental needs of our planet.
SOCIAL
Freeing the wood-worker community from the clutches of the middlemen and helping them switch to better alternatives for sustainable business hence uplifting their lives and making them more skilled.
ECONOMIC
Providing them with better skills of entrepreneurship to make them self-dependent while also hiking up their profit margin by reducing the interference of the middlemen and also by exposing them to a larger digital market as well.
ENVIRONMENTAL
Switching to bamboo in order to encourage it as an alternative to wood hence promoting green cover besides encouraging zero-waste production by using the remains in producing edible items.