SEWA Cooperative Federation

•Newsletter | January 2025• Welcome to #Sahakarita! For 30 plus years we have seen women corporators from the informal economy breaking traditional boundaries, taking ownership of finances and their decisions, investing time in their cooperatives and collective enterprises to sustain not just themselves but their entire community. What happens when these women working in the informal economy come together? Read our latest newsletter to know more!

Solidarity in Action | Strengthening Women’s Co-operatives Support from the Co-operatives UK during the Covid-19 crisis was a powerful reminder of what co-operation truly stands for—solidarity, sisterhood, and collective resilience. With this funding, provided critical working capital to a dozen small informal women worker's co-operatives across India, including savings and credit co-operatives that were at risk of shutting down. This support kept these co-operatives afloat and also reinforced their resilience—most repaid the capital, allowing the fund to revolve and support others. Mirai Chatterjee, our chairperson shares, "Most of these co-operatives took working capital from us between ₹300,000 to ₹500,000 – and the interesting thing is that most of them paid it back. We didn’t take any interest, we had a small margin, just for auditing and other administrative costs, but we thought this was a good practice so some of it was a grant for some of the smaller co-operatives who were struggling. But the savings and credit co-operatives, our health co-operative, which produces traditional medicines – all of them returned the money so the fund is still with us and we’re able to lend to others. From this experience we have been advocating with our government that, if you want to support women’s co-operatives – small, informal worker co-operatives – through good times and bad, not just during crises, then you need to create this kind of livelihood fund which will provide working capital, either as soft loans or some kind of revolving fund so the co-operatives can grow and prosper." Read more below!

Cooperatives Build a Better World | IYC 2025 As we step into 2025, the United Nations International Year of Cooperatives, what can 32 years of experience teach us about building resilient, women-led enterprises in informal economy? From fostering solidarity to driving financial inclusion, here are 9 key learnings to inspire the way forward. Swipe through the slides, and read our blog here to dive into these learnings. #IYC2025 #CooperativesBuildABetterWorld

What happens when women working in the informal economy come together? From bringing informal women workers’ collective enterprises to the forefront to upskilling them across the country, we have spent over three decades enabling their collectives to break barriers, build self-reliance, and forge bonds of sisterhood that will last a lifetime. Swipe to know the journey so far!

As the curtains fall on 2024, we do one last round-up for the action-packed month of December. This month we saw immense learning and growth on the farming and agriculture front - Along with the State Rural Livelihoods Mission (SRLM) and SEWA Bharat, we had the chance to study and learn from Assam’s Farmer Producer Companies (FPCs). This was followed by the members of Kheda Cooperative participating in a 2 day CEE workshop on seed with the ED team. We were proud to see the agro output products and Ayurvedic LSM products on display at the Krishi Mela, Navsari by members of Megha Mandli. And lastly, we shared our experiences with women’s agri cooperatives in the informal sector at the NMNF workshop. We had many visits from partner organisations this month which we enjoyed thoroughly: first by the members of UK Co-op , WIEGO - Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing and the Africa Union at Federation, and then by CICOPA members who visited Abodana, Lok Swasthya and Sangini Cooperatives. We carried out capacity building efforts for the women artisans of Anokha Dhaga in Jharkhand through trainings in sales, marketing and more. We also took part in activity mapping with Urban Design Square (UDS) to understand built workspaces and increasing temperatures. We also conducted a need assessment survey for our dairy cooperatives as well attended a workshop by Co-Design to strengthen our research methods. The Srujan area organisation meet took place with 19 members of New Fatehwadi, Sarkhej. With the festive season filling the air, we hosted the Christmas celebrations at the Federation office with cheer, and continue to carry the celebrations forward as SEWA Cooperative Federation marks its 32nd year since establishment!

Kisan Divas | Women Farmer Cooperatives Women farmers face layered challenges—from adapting to climate change to accessing digital tools or securing financial stability. Each of our focus areas—climate mitigation, youth inclusion, digital inclusion, financial sustainability, and innovation—addresses these realities. These priorities ensure women farmers have the tools, knowledge, and support to overcome barriers, sustain livelihoods, and shape resilient communities. This #KisanDivas, we recognise that every challenge a woman farmer faces is deeply interconnected. We continue to work towards long-term, practical solutions that honour their work, amplify their voices, and secure their futures. Through these focus areas, we strive to build a supportive ecosystem that empowers women farmers to thrive—not just survive. #FarmersDay #IndianFarmers #FarmerStories #WomenFarmers #FarmersCollective #FarmersCooperative

From a humble cooperative of block printers to a thriving one, empowering 350 artisans—Abodana Handicraft Cooperatives' story spans four decades of resilience, creativity, and community. From then to now, Abodana offers the possibility of sustained livelihood to these women artisans in Ahmedabad, giving them voice, visibility, and bargaining power. Follow us to stay tuned for more inspiring stories of women-led cooperatives like Abodana!

Meet Bhartiben, a farmer, leader and board member at Megha Indigenous Women Farmers’ Cooperative. Her story goes to prove that with the right resources, care and collaboration, informal women workers cooperatives can make a difference beyond the lives of their women members and their families, they uplift communities at large! Swipe to read her story. The #WomenofSEWACooperativeFederation series brings to the forefront the lives of informal women workers who are a part of women-owned and run cooperatives across the country. Stay tuned for more.

This month, on the #SEWAFederation recommends , we bring to you a curated list of films and books that highlight the journeys of women who paved the way for their community to make lasting societal change. Through numerous hardships and systemic challenges, these women, some fictional and some real, from Savitribai Phule to Malala Yusufzai, are trailblazers that we look upto! What are some films and books that you would recommend to us? Let us know in the comments.

How to strengthen gender inclusive farming practices? Our sisters from Megha Tribal Women Farmers Cooperative recently participated in a resource mapping exercise, where they found out (again) that out of 27 agricultural operational activities (from sowing to production), more than 64% of these were done by women farmers, however with little or no decision-making power and asset ownership. Organised by the National Coalition for Natural Farming (NCNF), this session on Eco - Feminism Leadership hosted Krishi Sakhi's from grassroot organizations of Gujarat. Ansuyaben and Sonaben represented Megha Women Farmers Cooperative in this workshop along with Pareshbhai from the SEWA Cooperative Federation team. Through tools for role plays, interactive activities and leadership-building, the workshop enabled participants to think on the social disparities around them. The training began with gender role discussions, including the third gender, and moved toward recognizing the invisible contributions of women in agriculture. By creating a space for learning and dialogue, it encouraged for a collective resolve: to lead change not just in farming, but in the ecosystem itself. In our experience we have found that one of the ways that collective resolve shifts an ecosystem is through cooperatives. Cooperatives, especially run and owned by women from the informal economy, are important vehicles to overcome gender barriers. It enables women to own the means of production and collectively access the market. Being part of farmers collectives also reassert their identity as women farmers, especially when they are the owners of that collective. Stay tuned as we explore women led farming, sustainable farming practices and much more through the work of our cooperatives and this enabling ecosystem. Aatapi Seva Foundation Cohesion Foundation Utthan Gujarat AKRSP-India Friends of Women's World Banking