Vicky's Green Innovation

Green Innovation

Even though the two social enterprises that Ventures in Development has incubated so far are yak-related and seem to solve the social problems in rural China only, ViD is interested in both rural and urban challenges, and is open-minded to conducting all types of program as long as it has the potential to grow into a sustainable social enterprise that can promote economic development. The monthly social innovation salon thus serves the purpose of collecting new, creative and feasible ideas for the incubation of future social enterprises.

On my last day interning with ViD, I helped organizing another social innovation salon in Hong Kong. This time, we discussed an urban challenge that is closely related to our daily lives and is common to most of the modernized cities—municipal waste recycling. In a world where consumerism takes the lead, tonnes of wastes are generated every day. Therefore, it is important to think of a sustainable way to treat the waste products instead of incinerating or dumping them into the limited landfills. While I was researching on this topic, I came across many creative and feasible solutions from abroad. However, to my surprise, only 1% of the recovered wastes in Hong Kong are recycled into something useful locally—the rest of them are exported to foreign companies as raw materials for making other goods. Another problem I noticed from my research is that the high value-added wastes such as paper, aluminum cans and plastics contributed to 93% of the recycled wastes. Due to a longer treatment process and a lower return rate, a limited scope of other wastes such as glass bottles and putrescibles (food wastes) are recycled. Obviously, we need a more long-term and innovative way to change the situation. In fact, this recycling business can be a good social enterprise idea too!

Pie chart showing the composition of recovered wastes in Hong Kong in 2008.

To stimulate our salon participants’ innovative mind, ViD contacted ECOLS, a stylish store selling creatively-recycled products from worldwide, and hosted our salon there. Sitting on an armchair made of egg cartons and looking at a handbag made with the pull-tabs from aluminum cans, our participants came up with ideas of how to create an SE that is based on recycling and re-creating products made of glass, wood, rattan, putrescibles and rubber tyres.

Phoebe Yuen, co-founder of ECOLS, explained the store’s concept and philosophy to the salon participants

Out of all solutions, my personal favorite is the “Wood Bank” idea. The group that was assigned to thinking about recycling wood and rattan came up with the idea of opening a Wood Bank, which is essentially a repository for scrap wood and leftover wood from construction sites etc. Individuals who need the wood for other purposes (such as making small furniture for their homes) can come and buy the wood at a cheap price. A workshop will be set up in the Wood Bank where craftsmen will design and teach children how to make recycled wooden products. The selling of the recycled products will provide a stable source of income for this Wood Bank to become a financially independent social enterprise.

Our salon participants brainstorming on the “Wood Bank” idea

Although the feasibility and effect of opening a Wood Bank or adopting the other solutions suggested at the salon is yet to be determined, ViD has at least brought up the waste recycling issue to a group of socially-minded young professionals. The salon has also served ViD’s mission of spreading the awareness of social enterprises, letting the participants know that there are alternative approaches to solving a social challenge. Hopefully with the help of the word of mouth, more people will be aware of these social issues, join in discussing them at the salon and eventually share ViD’s vision!

- Vicky

Goodbye to Jaipur

Corey:

My internship at Jaipur Rugs Foundation has come to an end. Despite a couple bouts of food poisoning and a malfunctioning computer, my time at JRF has been nothing short of incredible. I have worked alongside a highly dedicated group of individuals in JRF; their passion and work ethic are unparalleled. I have also had the opportunity to work under Mr. N.K. Chaudhary. Mr. N.K. Chaudhary is one of the most selfless and kind-hearted human beings I have ever encountered and the opportunity to work under him has been an incredible experience that I will never forget. He is a visionary pioneer who will undoubtedly transform the carpet industry. Not only did Mr. N.K. Chaudhary teach me about the history and mission of JRF and his vision for the company, but also he taught me that private enterprise can successfully facilitate economic and social development – often more effectively and sustainably than foreign aid can.

During my internship, I have conducted a copious amount of research on a variety of different topics, edited various reports, including JRF’s Annual Report and the Annual Progress Report on Thanagazi, researched and drafted letters to potential partners in Germany and the Netherlands, narrated both a long and short documentary film on JRF, and conducted an interview for a national news station. However, the main focus of my internship has been on the SHG initiative of JRF’s Carpet Cluster Development Project in Thanagazi. I have compiled my findings into a 24-page report that I will present to Mr. Chaudhary and the JRF staff on my last day. My presentation will cover a variety of different topics relating to the Carpet Cluster Development Project, including its history, mission, achievements, and areas for improvement. It is my hope that my report will help JRF to improve the effectiveness, facilitate the expansion, and ensure the sustainability of its Carpet Cluster Development Project as well as educate the Penn faculty and community about JRF.

Final Words from Sagar

Hi everyone, this is my last post, and I have tried to summarize my learning with respect to Social Enterprise.

Disclaimer: Please note that the thoughts below are my own, and do not necessarily reflect those of the PW or its founder.

Definition of Social Enterprise

· Different people define Social Enterprise in different ways, my original one was that of “a for-profit business that serves a social need”.

· Prefer the definition exposed to this summer: There is a broad spectrum of organizations, ranging from zero self-income generating charities, to self-sustaining microfinance organizations. All of these can be called social enterprises in one sense of the word. If they pursue their ‘social missions’ while adopting the underlying tenets of business i.e. being results driven and accountable, focusing on governance, capacity building and expansion etc. they can certainly be called social enterprises.

Current Situation w.r.t the Social and Private Sector

At this stage, there is a very wide perceptional gap between the charitable and private sector. The latter being very results driven, is uncomfortable interacting with individuals and organizations from the former.

Most charities spend a lot of their time and quality people trying to raise funds. Each foundation/donor has its own requirements and there is a lack of standardization. Also, because of the private-social sector understanding gap (most philanthropists have made their money in the private sector), the majority of the money is sucked in by charities that have a strong brand name and visibility, not necessarily effectiveness. Thus the incentives for charities to focus on effectiveness, governance and accountability are few.

Moreover, because the social sector pays lower salaries in general, it is seen as sub-optimal and there is a lack of talented individuals, especially compared to the private sector.

My conclusion then is that the social sector has a lot of entrepreneurs, because you need to be one to get people motivated to start an organization, but is lacking people with managerial skillsets, who can really take the charities far along the road to effectiveness.

Thoughts and Philosophies

· Before diving in, it is useful to scope out the value-chain and examine those areas where there is too much attention, and those where there is too little.

• Chances are that the impact per dollar will be larger in areas where needs are not being met
• If you must get involved in the chain at a point where there are numerous organizations, it is better to become part of an existing one and help it improve its effectiveness than start a new one and miss out on the use of available infrastructure.

· Along the same networking point, it is arrogant and naive to think that one-person, or one-organization can make a significant impact. If one attempts to work without leveraging the support and information networks with other organizations, one is not performing at a 100% capability.

· Social Forums, Articles and Research Papers, Informal Discussions are vital for

• Developing these relationships
• Ensuring that organizations have a collective impetus in a general 'north' direction

To Summarize

· I came in thinking that for-profit social enterprise were the ideal, and would revolutionize the sector because they aren't dependent on donors. However,

• People are willing to give, and getting funding might not be that hard if you can show good impact and effective governance
• Adam Smith's specialization applies - the interests of the non-profit are best served if it does what it is best at: helping others. Any time spent trying to self-generate funds, especially if the staff don't have the expertise and it is beyond the mission scope, is inefficient
• Charities, Social enterprises cause only a ripple compared to the wave that large institutional organizations such as the UN, and Governments more so can create in terms of social impact.
• Having said that, at the end of the day, it one has to approach the basic needs to be solved from all angles, public, private and non-profit, i.e. society

Thank you for this opportunity PennSEM, PW and Penn!

Self Help Groups at Jaipur

Corey:

I have spent the past couple weeks analyzing the data I collected through the surveys I conducted. I interviewed 48 self-help group (SHG) members individually and 10 SHGs as a whole. Through my surveys, I wholeheartedly believe that Jaipur Rugs Foundation’s (JRF) SHG initiative is benefiting the lives of weavers. I believe that the SHG initiative has tackled three major social problems: the presence of exploitative middlemen, social discrimination, and rural-urban migration. First, middlemen, acting as liaisons between weavers and contractors, have traditionally employed exploitative practices that have left weavers trapped in an endless cycle of poverty and suffering. However, Jaipur Rugs Company (JRC) has cut out these middlemen by creating a business that oversees every process of carpet weaving – from production and manufacturing to exporting and wholesaling. Moreover, JRF conducts capacity-building trainings, facilitates market linkages with JRC, and plans to eventually organize the weavers into an independent federal body with ownership over the company; rather than confining weavers to a life of dependency, as middlemen have traditionally done, JRF encourages the weavers to become truly self-dependent entrepreneurs.

Second, the SHG initiative addresses the discrimination and inequality inherent in India’s social system. Although the Indian Constitution has outlawed the caste system, caste-based discrimination still persists in parts of India, specifically in the rural areas of the country. SC, ST, and OBC members have been subject to horrible discrimination and inequality. Although they make up the majority of the population of India, they have the lowest social status and have suffered from social segregation, social restrictions, and extreme poverty. Indian women have also faced similar treatment. Although the status of women in ancient India has been widely debated, women of the medieval period were subject to harsh discrimination when sati, jauhar, child marriages, the dowry system, and the practice of purdah spread. Since then, Indian women, particularly those in rural settings, have faced low social status, social segregation, and poverty. JRF seeks to mitigate such discrimination and inequality by employing women, SC, ST, and OBC. With 96% of its weavers SC, ST, or OBC and 70% of its weavers female, JRF uses carpet weaving as a tool to empower the most disadvantaged populations of India.

Third, the SHG initiative addresses the problem of rural-urban migration in India. With 70% of the rural population depending on agriculture for their livelihood, agriculture is the principal occupation of the rural population of India. However, the productivity of agriculture is low, there are great population pressures on agriculture land and unpredictable weather patterns. All of these factors have created serious problems of unemployment and underemployment in rural India. Thus, rural villagers have flocked to the metropolitan cities of India in search of better employment and livelihoods. The urban population of India grew by 70 million, or 31.2 %, from 1991 to 2001This migrant inflow has placed tremendous pressure on urban infrastructure, led to overcrowding, increased traffic and pollution, and created a sense of disorder. Moreover, most of the migrants have ended up living in slums where water shortages, lack of sanitation and the absence of basic amenities necessary to support a dignified life are common. Thus, JRF provides a check on migration by offering an alternative livelihood to agriculture. Not only can carpet weaving prevail in the face of drought and famine, but also JRF promises its weavers stable employment and relatively higher wages; JRF buys back every carpet produced and the weavers’ wages increase from approximately 50 rupees per day to approximately 110 rupees per day. By tackling these three social problems, I truly believe that JRF’s SHG initiative will improve the lives of weavers, enhance the socioeconomic status of rural communities, foster the development of Indian culture and society, and ultimately change the world.

-Corey