Shell Foundation’s Breathing Space programme entered a new phase of engagement with multiple districts in the state of Karnataka with an awareness and engagement programme for District and Taluk level elected and executive officers organized in Davangere and Gulbarga on November 25 and December 16 respectively. This programme is a part of Shell Foundation’s current initiative in Bihar, Maharashtra and Karnataka to build momentum for adoption of improved cook stoves by providing access to stoves, finance and a last mile distribution chain.
Being implemented by Envirofit, Grameen Koota and Project Dharma in Karnataka, the initiative envisages partnership with rural government authorities and outreach workers. The aim is to create a strong rural finance and distribution chain to promote adoption of improved cook stoves manufactured by Envirofit. This programme is an outcome of the pilot projects run in Udupi, Koppal, Raichur and Shimoga over the past two years to establish the different routes to market.
The Ministry of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj has extended its support for training of Anganwadi workers through the satellite programme of the State Institute for Rural Development (SIRD), incentivisation of families who are identified Below Poverty Line (BPL) and access to Self Help Groups (SHG) through the Self Employment Programme (SEP).
According to Pradeep Pursnani, Business Director, Breathing Space, Shell Foundation:
“The partnership represents an efficient pooling of resources for creating sustainable social impact. By partnering the government’s existing outreach, the IAP solution providers can spread awareness and drive conversion at a much faster pace.”
The current campaign involves engagement with district authorities as well as leveraging existing, compatible government programmes. The workshop at Devangere was a part of meetings being organized in districts to review the progress of the World Bank funded Gram Swaraj programme which covers 39 most backward talukas and 1341 Gram Panchayats of Karntaka. The workshops will cover all 15 districts that are under the Gram Swaraj program. Chief of the Gram Swaraj Program, Mr. Ekanthappa was keen that the IAP program be shared with Taluk level leaders. Two other workshops will be held in December at Mysore and Koppal.
The workshop at Devangere, attended by 60 Zilla Panchayat Members, Zilla Panchayat officials (CEO, CAO and PO) and state level officers from Gram Swaraj, was addressed by Sacchit Naik and Prabhu Andanur from Project Dharma, Gokuldas Adappa from Envirofit and Mahanthesh H K from micro-finance institution Grameen Koota and its enabling NGO Navya Disha.
The session was opened by Mr Ekanthappa, Chief Executive Officer of Gram Swaraj, impressing on the gathering the need for adoption of IAP mitigating measures. Mahanthesh outlined the IAP issues, health risks and options available while Adappa took the gathering through the advantages of Envirofit’s range of improved cook stoves. The partnership between the three IAP solution providers – Grameen Koota, Envirofit and Project Dharma – was presented by Prabhu. The session was followed by a stove demonstration.
Speaking on the workshop, Mahanthesh HK noted that:
“Participants wanted to know more about the cook stoves and are interested in taking up this activity in their locality. Zilla Panchayats have also shown interest in purchasing stoves for the Anganwadis in Davanagere district. As a whole, I thought the presentation was well received.”
According to Anuradha Bhavnani, Regional Director, Shell Foundation:
“After the pilots in different districts of Karnataka and an extensive Anganwadi engagement programme in Shikaripur Taluk, we knew that an effective IAP programme required four legs to stand on: a product, finance, a last mile distribution network and an enabling existing outreach, be it of the government or locally established partners with reach. The addition of Project Dharma to the efforts of Grameen Koota and Envirofit means we now have the ability to convert the heightened awareness into quick product deliveries. We have found in the past that the Government of Karnataka has been a very enthusiastic partner in addressing the issue of Indoor Air Pollution. Specifically, we found that by addressing the government organization, we were able to quickly build up awareness in the remotest of villages. Consequently, it made eminent sense to tie up the efforts of the three Shell Foundation partners with the huge capacity that the government puts on the table.”
Speaking on the initiative with Gram Swaraj, Pradeep Pursnani said:
“The Gram Swaraj programme was an ideal kick-start as it enabled our partners to speak directly to Taluk level programme managers in the most backward Taluks and Villages of Karnataka. Given that improved cook stoves provide great economies in fuel consumption, apart from the obvious health benefits, we were reaching out to an audience that has the ability to make a change in their villages and adopt Improved Cook Stoves as a village level program. This transformation would drive real change on the ground and our partners today have the answers to the three critical challenges of IAP: availability, affordability and access. We now look forward to the next stage of deeper engagement with six districts in Karnataka as well as new districts in Maharashtra and Bihar.”
