From livelihoods to leadership: Lessons from Jaipur’s women entrepreneurs
By Rommel Moseley, Executive Director, Croda Foundation
Razia Sultana looked up from her sewing machine with a quiet smile and says “My husband now says to me, 'Go, go for work'. We have full support from our families.”
I met Razia during a visit to Jaipur, India, where Croda Foundation and the British Asian Trust, in partnership with ACCESS Development Services and SEWA Bharat, are empowering women artisans to strengthen their livelihoods and leadership. Her words have stayed with me. They speak to something far bigger than financial progress, a quiet but powerful shift in how communities view women’s work and aspirations.
Across India, women in the informal sector form the backbone of countless local economies. In Rajasthan, especially in Jaipur’s vibrant handicraft communities, women’s skills and artistry sustain families and preserve generations of tradition. Yet, despite exceptional skill and creativity, many of these women artisans have limited access to stable income, training, and market opportunities. These challenges often restrict their own financial independence and the ability to plan for the future or invest in their children’s education.
The British Asian Trust, with support from Croda Foundation, is working to break this cycle by empowering these women with the skills, confidence, and resources they need to thrive. Through training in financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and craft skills, women are becoming business leaders and mentors within their communities.
The programme uses a 'Training of Trainers' model, equipping 270 women leaders with financial and entrepreneurial skills. These leaders have gone on to train over a thousand more women, creating a ripple effect. This ripple effect is already visible: 1,350 Self Help Group members are now organised into vibrant collectives, each led by a woman trained in both hard skills, like tailoring and embroidery, and soft skills, such as financial literacy and leadership.
The progress is remarkable. The Self Help Groups have accessed revolving funds and bank loans - 7 groups received INR 300,000 (equivalent to £2,521) in revolving funds and 49 groups secured loans totalling INR 4.65 million (£39,076).
Before the intervention, participating women’s incomes ranged from INR 1,000–1,500 (£8.40–£12.60) per month. Today, 60 women are earning INR 5,000 (£42) monthly, and many others have seen their incomes rise by 30%, a life-changing difference.
However, the numbers tell only part of the story. One of the strongest outcomes reported by the women themselves is the confidence the programme has given them to pursue opportunities beyond what they imagined possible before. Some are expanding their embroidery and handicraft work following training, while others are diversifying into new areas such as food production. What unites these stories is the sense of financial independence: women who previously lacked the confidence or support to act on their ambitions are now doing so, and in the process reshaping how they and their families view their role. This shift – from dependency to initiative – is one of the clearest signs that the project is delivering impact beyond income, fostering lasting change in attitudes and aspirations.
I was moved by Asma Bhanu’s story, leader of the Subanallah Self-Help Group. At 45, Asma has become a pillar in her community, leading a group that includes her own mother-in-law. While her mother-in-law sews four or five bags by hand each day, Asma, with a sewing machine, can produce up to a hundred. “Here I am able to learn. And I’m able to forget all that’s troubling me at home,” she shared. The group is more than an economic unit. It’s a support network, a place where women save together, lend to each other, and share opportunities.
There’s also Meesha, a young entrepreneur who took a small loan from her Self-Help Group to buy a second-hand sewing machine for INR 7,000. She repaid it within a year. When orders are slow, she switches to beadwork and small bag-making. Today, she earns about INR 6,000 a month, modest by some standards, but enough to give her independence and dignity.
These women are not waiting for change; they are leading it. They save together, lend to one another, share orders when work is scarce, and lift each other up.
I also visited a Learning Resource Centre where children who had fallen out of the school system are being re-engaged. The centre not only bridges educational gaps but also challenges community perceptions about the value of mainstream education, especially for girls.
This project is about more than livelihoods and income generation; it’s about unlocking potential and creating lasting change. The project’s impact extends to reduced child marriage and child labour, improved access to health and social security schemes, and a growing culture of savings and financial independence. In fact, 1,078 children from Self Help Group families are now attending school regularly, and the incidence of child labour has dropped dramatically, from 17% to just 1.4% among children aged 6–14 in participants’ households.
Croda Foundation is honoured to stand alongside the British Asian Trust in this critical work. Razia, Asma and Meesha, and the hundreds of other women we support, are not just improving her own lives, but reshaping what is possible for the next generation. And that, more than anything, is what real transformation looks like.
