How one women’s co-operative is changing lives in India

Sadhna artisans outside their production facility (Ruchika Jain/Transform Trade)

Today, we’re sharing a story of what happens for women when trade is done well - and the impact ethical business can have on a whole community. Sadhna, a garments manufacturer in Rajasthan, is just one example of the thousands of inspirational small businesses empowering women and changing lives across the world. 

Employing over 700 female artisans, their mission is to empower women in a region where their rights are often restricted, and where there are few opportunities for women to earn an independent income.

Smriti Kedia at the Sadhna store (Ruchika Jain/ Transform Trade)

As the CEO, Smriti Kedia (pictured above) explains: “Sadhna makes them believe they’re not just anyone – they have a skill that is in demand.” 

Pushpa Tank at the Sadhna production facility (Ruchika Jain / Transform Trade)

When Pushpa Tank first began to work for Sadhna, things were different. “When I started, girls were not allowed out of the house in my community – but now, the mindset has changed.” 

Pushpa is now a stitching group leader, and even modelled for Sadhna at their AGM last year in Delhi. She has pride in her work – and her income has meant her daughter has become the most educated person in the family, with dreams of becoming a lawyer. This, Pushpa says, is her biggest success in life. 

Sadhna’s way of working ensures no woman is left behind. 

As an ethical business, their success is about more than profit. They strive to include women from hard-to-reach areas such as tribal communities and are constantly trying to reach more and more women – even if they have less time to devote to artisan work. 

Meera near her home (Ruchika Jain / Transform Trade)

Meera, from the Bheel tribal community, has been working with Sadhna for over a decade. Her community does not have running water – and during the summer, Meera must walk a 6km round trip twice per day just to get water, in temperatures that often rise above 45 degrees Celsius.
 
Despite these challenges, Meera is now an artisan group leader. In her words: 
 
“Women having their own money is good – before Sadhna there were very few opportunities for our community.” 
 

For Sadhna, making sure women like Meera have a regular income is a way of building community resilience. Over the last 20 years, the Sadhna facility in the town of Delwara has grown in importance, as more than just a place of work: 
 
“The centre there is looked at as a space for the women. Men don’t easily enter this space. That kind of space in a male dominated area is not easy. That is social change. They have become an institution that is contributing to the development of their area. 

This social change is difficult to capture in words or numbers. Today they [the artisans] will negotiate – they don’t take things silently if they don’t see it as correct. That is powerful. That is the real change that we see.” 

-Smriti Kedia
 
An independent income for artisans means more than just secure finances. They don’t just earn the money, they control how it’s spent. That money often goes on securing a good education for their children or putting away savings that help households navigate crises like the pandemic or the cost-of-living crisis. As Smriti says:

“The account is in their name, without their signature the money can’t move. That's powerful.” 

An investment from the Producer Fund will give Sadhna the chance to expand, and employ more women like Meera and Pushpa.  

That means more women earning an income that is their own, more women planning for the future and providing for their families and more women thriving like artisan trustee Bindu Yadav: 

“When you support Sadhna you’re supporting women like me becoming independent. When a woman is earning she can improve her family and the whole community develops. Women in this community have a steady income from Sadhna.  

This is the best form of employment in my community.” 

- Bindu Yadav, Artisan Trustee, Sadhna

Transform Trade’s Producer Fund was set up to invest in the ethical businesses like Sadhna who are changing the lives of entire communities across the world. 

 By supporting Transform Trade, you’re supporting a better way of doing trade– in creating a future where all workers, artisans and producers enjoy respect, fair wages, and their basic human rights and dignities – because when trade is done well, everybody benefits.