Designs for the grassroots

Barring a few NGOs like Sewa and Dastkar, well-known for their branded products, most find selling in-house products an extremely tough business for lack of proper market linkages. But now help is at hand.

SEED or Strategy for Economic Empowerment and Development is a new professional consultancy company that will empower NGOs and communities alike through various intervention programmes.

The new venture has been set up by product designer Vibhor Sogani, trade consultant Vijay K Chaturvedi and Reetu Sogani, an environment management researcher.

SEED will offer solutions for skill assessment studies, assist in product design and develop and build market linkages for those who want to expand their reach.

Says Vibhor Sogani, who designs signature lifestyle products in stainless steel and undertakes retail branding projects for corporate clients: "Today 99 per cent of these (NGO) projects fail because of lack of correct marketing channels. We want to intervene at all levels: to create products for today's market, generate revenue and offer sustainable livelihood."

The company is in talks with several bilateral agencies and leading NGOs.

Chaturvedi, a crafts industry expert, says: "Most NGO products piggyback on emotions. We want to change that. The products must sell on their own strength, compete with commercial products and command their own price."

The company is close to finalising a deal with Awag in Ahmedabad to develop a product line. Ila Pathak, secretary of the NGO confirms the move and adds that "this is the first time Awag will attempt at creating its own product".

SEED intends to create a resource bank of available material, craft and skill and then translate this knowledge into a product for the market. The company will also carry out assessment reports (it has done one for Care in Gujarat) and offer monitoring services.

"Often, there are good products but no marketing facility. On the other hand, where there is a market, there are no products. We hope to bridge this gap," says Vibhor Sogani.

In the long run, SEED will design programmes for livelihood restoration and create employment opportunities. For instance, the company is undertaking an assessment study for a donor agency in Orissa's famine-stricken Bolangir district.

"The Bolangir region is rich in bamboo but has no agriculture. We're assessing the kind of traditional resources and skills that are available in the region," says Vibhor Sogani.

But there is no such thing as a free lunch. The work will be processed for a fee but he assures that it will be a modest sum.