Swayam Shikshan Prayog (SSP)

Swayam Shikshan Prayog (SSP) focuses on empowering women to actively engage in farming and entrepreneurship, aiming to boost their capabilities, entitlements, financial and digital inclusion, and access to government and market opportunities. The NGO offers ongoing education and learning initiatives to elevate the status and influence of women addressing household and community challenges. Operating at the grassroots level, SSP addresses a spectrum of issues, from food security to entrepreneurship and the conservation of natural resources.

Major Interventions:

Women-Led Climate Resilient Farming: SSP is de-risking agriculture and promoting women’s decision-making by encouraging organic cultivation of multiple indigenous food crops and livelihood diversification to ensure household health, nutrition, and income security. The Women-led Climate Resilient Farming (WCRF) model, also known as the one-acre farming model, transforms marginalized women farmers in climate-risk areas into resilient leaders, with better livelihoods and wellbeing, positioning them as agri-innovators and decision-makers.

Women’s Entrepreneurship: SSP is fostering entrepreneurship training and leadership skills to give women the social capital to catapult into business leadership. The initiatives provide access to seed fund capital and business expansion loans through banks and microfinance institutions, facilitating rural marketing and distribution by identifying new local business opportunities in health, clean energy, water, and sanitation. This is achieved through facilitating dialogues between women and local governments and enabling access to a robust network of grassroots entrepreneurs as a support system.

Water, Sanitation, Health & Nutrition: The Women-led Sanitation Hygiene and Resilient Practices (wSHARP) program, with women-led risk-informed community-government partnerships, is building community resilience systems by improving community and household water security for sustained and safe water, sanitation, and hygiene, along with improved nutrition for women and children, in convergence with national flagship programs.

Energy & Environment: SSP is developing the entrepreneurship of rural women through education and marketing of clean energy solutions such as biogas cook stoves, solar products, vegetable (subjee) coolers, water conservation techniques, and organic agri inputs, which is achieved through public awareness programs in the community.