The poorest people in our society struggle every day, every mealtime, to put food on the table. But we help create a fairer society, where we eliminate the hunger and malnutrition that compromise the futures of the most vulnerable. Women and children especially tend to suffer the impacts of hunger the most. This is Sunita’s story from India.
“My husband used to be the sole breadwinner, and we lived with just his income. We barely had anything left for savings. Now that I too have started earning, we are able to educate our kids well. We use my earnings to pay for household expenses.”
Sunita works in a Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) supported micro-enterprise, in Bihar, in the eastern part of India, producing fortified, blended food powder, or Take-Home Ration (THR).
Sunita is the mother of two children. And now she has a job, her life has been transformed in many meaningful ways.
Sunita works for a Self-Help Group (SHG) in Dobhi, Bodh Gaya, which produces fortified Take Home Rations for government-run childcare centers, known as Anganwadi Centres. These SHGs are informal associations of people, in this case women, who come together to find ways to improve their lives and the lives of their communities.
Her SHG is part of an initiative aimed to empower women through micro-enterprises at the same time as improving nutrition in vulnerable communities. And the SHG model is one of the most important microfinance mechanisms in India.
In 2013, when GAIN formed a partnership with Nidan and the Bihar Rural Livelihoods Promotion Society—JEEViKA, which is an autonomous body under the Government of Bihar’s Department of Rural Development. This partnership launched a groundbreaking project to address malnutrition and increase the nutritional intake of women and children, by investing in women SHG, which in turn empowered many women like Sunita.
The enterprise produces fortified food called Wheatamix, which is made using a mix of rice, pulses and wheat, with wheat being the major ingredient. The fortification process, which boosts the nutritional value of wheat, is carefully designed to help children between the ages of 6 and 36 months, as well as pregnant and lactating women. Wheatamix is distributed through the Integrated Child Development Scheme, one of India’s leading social protection schemes focused on maternal and child nutrition.
In 2016, GAIN helped set-up two additional micro-enterprises in Bihar, supporting around 45,000 people, both through fortified food and through employment. GAIN provided the finance to equip these units and to train the women who ran the daily operations. Two local partners provided direct day-to-day implementation support, ensuring the enterprise was well set-up and running smoothly.
GAIN provided financial support for two years and, since then, the enterprises have been in continuous operation, producing Wheatamix without interruption, on time and meeting all the correct standards. This achievement is a real accolade to Roshan Jeevika Mahila Gram Sangathan, that manages the SHG, and to BRLPS-JEEViKAan, which continues to provide invaluable support.
This micro-enterprise unit has two very important functions. It empowers Sunita and her colleagues, providing a regular source of income and the social support that comes with a good job. And it provides access to a nutrient-dense food, which is part of the Government of India’s social protection scheme.
And this is about more than building economic sustainability. This is also about social change. Women who once worked in caste-bound jobs, or as domestic helps, now have jobs that contribute much more to community welfare, where they are operating sophisticated machinery, doing quality control, and managing financial accounting. An internal evaluation by GAIN found that women preferred working in these micro-enterprise units over traditional and less lucrative labor-intensive jobs because of the affiliated higher respect the role brings. The SHG brings them power, self-sufficiency and, importantly, freedom from social and economic barriers.
Over 45,000 people across Bihar now receive fortified foods. It has had such a big impact on nutrition outcomes for children and women in the region that the state government has committed to procuring the entire production from these micro-enterprises. That guarantees both the continued production and long-term employment. It is a win-win.
For more than a decade, GAIN has been helping the small businesses that produce, process and deliver healthy food, supporting them as they expand, innovate and address the needs of the most vulnerable people. It has built partnerships, policy advocacy and support programs in seven countries to deliver social protection systems like this one. The result is that communities like Sunita’s are equipped to combat systemic and intergenerational inequities, overcoming barriers to access vital services and resources, and creating better conditions to allow future generations to flourish.
GAIN is now expanding the project further, strengthening the SHG model by introducing new business innovations and helping enhance public procurement systems to improve the delivery and effective use of nutrition services. The goal is to ensure the continued delivery of the dual benefits of empowering women like Sunita and making sure more families across Bihar, and beyond, have the essential nutrition they need for enjoying long-term benefits of improved health and well-being.
Sunita’s story highlights the power in combining economic empowerment with nutritional improvements. It’s simple. When women are given the tools to thrive, entire communities benefit.
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Photo courtesy of GAIN
