GRAM VIKAS NIDHI PROJECT
Sustainable livelihood project to support dhokra artisans
Mahashakti Foundation with the esteemed support of Natioanal Bank for Agriculture And Rural Development (NABARD) started project GramyaVikasNidhi on 25 March 2019 to support and nurture the dhokra& tribal jewellery artisans in Jhigidi, Gatiguda&Kankiri and other villages in Muniguda and Bissamcuttack blocks of Rayagada dist. of Odisha.
Most of the people of these villages earn their livelihood by making handicraft products and selling them. The dhokra art & craft and the tribal jewelleries have become a craze among the new generation people. And these artisans are the one who have kept this long lost techniques of making jewelleries and metal figurines alive. But the main challenge for them was the market linkages.
In this project, Mahashakti Foundation with the support of NABARD is working on the two main issues of developing of innovative designs & establishing market linkages.
For quality product development in the cluster, a series of skill up-gradation training programmes & product development workshops is being held.Designers are invited to visit the craft clusters to understand the craft, generate new ideas& suggest new models on which work is being done to attract the customers. For marketing linkages, Mahashakti Foundation is organising buyers-sellers meet, events for test marketing, development of digital catalogues and linkages to e-commerce.
