Summary:

In November 2013, a small amount of Catalyst funding helped to fund the development of
a project to improve the livelihoods of impoverished weavers in Varanasi, India. This
crucial research phase helped us secure significant funding from the Poorest Areas Civil
Society (PACS) Programme.

Our project is now working to increase incomes and living standards of 5,000 weaver
households, by creating producer collectives and helping them access new markets. In
particular, it is engaging women so that their contribution to the production process is
properly recognised and fairly rewarded. The experience from this project will be shared
with other organisations to ensure that even more weavers and their families can benefit.

This project is generously supported by the Poorest Areas Civil Society (PACS)
Programme, as well grant-making trusts and individuals.

Background:
This intervention is proposed to be implemented in Eastern Uttar Pradesh specifically with
the weavers of the ancient living city of Varanasi or Benares. Varanasi is a massive tourist
attraction and a significant centre of crafts. The traditional ‘benarasi’ weave occupies pride
of place in weaving traditions of India and is uniquely known for its additional
embellishment.

There are about 100,000 weavers in Varanasi – a number that could inflate up to five
times given that weaving is largely a household activity. Muslims constitute over 80% of
the weavers and 90% of these belong to the category of Other Backward Classes (OBCs).
With less engagement of other communities in the profession, the weaver community has
become isolated/ghettoised and hence socially excluded.

Weaving is physically tough. It involves sitting and working in uncomfortable positions for
as long as six to seven hours at once often in unsanitary and unhygienic surroundings.
Occupational health problems are common.

Weavers earn very little with weaving families earning between Rs 100 – Rs 250 (£1 -
£2.5) per day for work ranging from 10-12 hours. Other livelihood options are severely
limited and people have to migrate to neighboring towns to find manual labour work.

The Project:
The most pressing need of the weavers is to have their livelihoods secured. The project
will address the problems faced by Benarasi weavers: the fragmented nature of
operations; feudal structure and dependency on middlemen; no direct access to
markets/consumers; little access to design, product development and diversification; and
unreliable and expensive inputs. Specific activities include:
 Strengthening producer collectives
 Providing capacity building support to strengthen institutional governance
 Enabling linkages and access to government and other institutional schemes and
resources
 Supporting the development/diversification of products and improving quality standards
 Developing innovative market strategies to improve market access to both domestic
and international markets
 Setting up a business facilitation unit to provide all business support and facilitate
linkages; and
 Setting up a social enterprise

Through these activities the project will create the right catalyst to generate the change
needed to improve the incomes and lives of weavers.

The Benefits:
The entire project is designed to bring benefits to the weavers. It will give them access to
sustainable income earning opportunities through forming and strengthening weaver
collectives and by equipping weavers with vital skills.

This project will provide a livelihoods model that will reduce the poverty of 5000 weaving
households in Varanasi. Crucially, it will help them increase their income so they provide
for their families basic needs.