Swayam Shikshan Prayog (SSP) was awarded the wPOWER Project by USAID/India in October 2012 and now we have completed one year of implementation of wPOWER India. This also marks a year of successfully facilitating the creation of a network of clean energy women entrepreneurs, or “Sakhis” in rural India. This network, now 310 Sakhis strong, has a two-fold developmental impact for women chosen as Sakhis – they receive training as entrepreneurs and supplement their income, become agents of change and leaders in their respective communities through awareness about, and sale of vital clean energy products like solar lanterns and clean cookstoves.

With the close of this quarter we have a deeper understanding of how to scale and strengthen operations for Sakhis in their respective communities. Following are some of the important milestones in strategy and implementation that we have achieved. You will find details of the same in wPOWER Quarterly Update III document attached with the mail.

The triple challenge of clean energy marketing, women entrepreneurship combined with a rural marketing setting can only be solved through innovative marketing techniques, much like those adopted by our more successful Sakhis, who leverage knowledge of local preferences and combine it with best practices and available support. More on page 2 of the report.

• For women in rural areas, capital availability for expansion of businesses is usually low. For most Sakhis, capital availability was limited to INR 5,000, limiting the stock and scale of clean energy products and business respectively. Read how wPOWER India is piloting an innovative entrepreneur micro-finance scheme to overcome such challenges, on page 3

• If Sakhis are trained to recognize their potential customers in broad generic categories, the task of formulating marketing strategies for clean energy products for their communities by integrating local context would become easier for them. Read more about the three typical target categories of Sakhis on page 4 of the update

• wPOWER India has entered partnerships with Wangari Maathai Institute-Hub (WMI), CARE International, Solar Sisters and the Green Belt Movement in Africa. This two year partnership will help wPOWER India to initiate a promising learning exchange of innovations and best practices in women entrepreneurship and leadership in the field of rural clean energy access. More about this exchange on page 6 of the attached update

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