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Genre Of Impact Social Enterprise & Sustainability
Indigenous practices across India have many a time been overrun and replaced by imported practices and cheaper but inappropriate alternatives. These have not only created an imbalance in society but also threatened the local ecosystem and environment. If sound economic models and sensible design are used, many of these sustainable practices can be revived, empowered and regenerated. This has enormous economic value for the local communities.
PROBLEM
Indian cotton cultivation needs to revive its own indigenous traditions which not only is more true to the sustainable traditions of India but also has many economic linkages with local communities. The British introduced American cotton (G. hirsutum) into India in 1790 and soon after independence, its cultivation rose up to 97%. Only a marginalised percentage of these farmers procure Indian desi seeds and cultivate desi cotton. Farmers are now searching for indigenous cotton because it is more suitable for the country’s rainfed region.
INSIGHT
If the art of desi cotton is revived right, and a suitable enterprise is designed around it, it can create a sustainable value chain and demonstrate mindful commerce through fabric that is guilt-free, timeless and natural.
Desi cotton (G.herbaceum), unlike American cotton, is resilient to drought and pests. It can be cultivated organically, providing a safe and sustainable livelihood for farmers. The agriculture of cotton has been interlaced into the fabric of India and its independence. Cotton farming employs about 25 million people in India while its industries develop some of the finest cotton fabric in the world. The importance of cotton in both agriculture and industry is unrivalled.
ACTION
Swaminathan, biotechnologist and researcher by training, entrepreneur by practice and partner at the Better Earth Coalition, took it upon himself to revive the indigenous (desi) 5,000-year-old cotton growing practice. He founded Kaskom, a social enterprise collective that works from farm to fabric. Kaskom is a model that showed farmers how they could cultivate desi cotton organically and conduct intercropping that would ensure a safe and sustainable livelihood. Swami has been involved in developing the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for all the activities of the seed to fabric, from Indian short stapled indigenous cotton, along with Ghandhigram Khadi, Dindugal & Gram Seva Mandal, Wardha. He works with local communities to regenerate this practice. At Kaskom, artisans are involved in creating fabric that is free from chemicals right from the time of cultivation to textile processing, and they use natural colours that are truly skin-friendly. A significant focus of the brand is to revive other textile-based crafts in South India.
As part of his market education efforts, Swaminathan also organises several national workshops and lectures at key forums in order to raise awareness and interest on desi cotton, sustainable agriculture and building social enterprise around it.
RESULTS
Social enterprises must be centred around people and purpose and with a sound economic model that sustains it. The right value chain interventions, design thinking and a collaborative mindset help in overcoming challenges that can range from the economic to policy interventions and social change.
Today, Kaskom has managed to create a farm to fibre, handwoven, handspun label and brand that works with a network of Khadi producers across the country, thereby participating in a movement to revive the ancient practice of desi cotton. In the early 2000s, Swaminathan successfully saved Karunganni cotton from the verge of extinction with the help of a few Perambur-based organic farmers.
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Swamy as he is fondly called, understands grassroots enterprise through two lenses – first as an advanced diploma recipient in molecular diagnostics further to an Msc. in biotechnology and second as the founder of a social enterprise called Kaskom, a farm to fabric collective that is revitalising India’s native cotton value chain. His passion for social enterprise and agro-ecology that weaves in local communities & practices runs deep. As does his understanding of the circular economy. He is also the Vice President at the Organic Farming Association of India (OFAI). He is involved in developing the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for all activities from seed to fabric, for the Indian short stapled indigenous cotton, along with Gandhigram Khadi Dindigul & Gram Seva Mandal, Wardha.
Swamy has conducted numerous workshops around the revival of organic practices and indigenous cotton, held several lectures apart from being a core participant in impactful programs. These include “Reviving community based indigenous seed systems” funded by SWISS-AID India, exploring linkages between weather parameters, paddy cultivation and adaptation activities in collaboration with Earthnet Foundation, Thailand, state coordination of “Save our rice campaign” in Karnataka and the “Community biodiversity management and conservation programme” funded by GGF.
Creative. Honest. Relevant. Be it a campaign, product design or a whitepaper,
Aakanksha’s mantra has never failed her. An alumna from the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts – Singapore, specialised in design, media and animation, Aakanksha is first and foremost a storyteller, with a decade of experience developing brands across industries through consumer insights, advertising, marketing, branding, and content strategy. Conscientious and driven, Aakanksha prefers to use her creativity and understanding of human behaviour to craft impactful deliverables that do good. This has proven particularly beneficial for impact projects like Domex’s #ToiletForBabli and India’s Darwaza Band (Swachh Bharat campaign). She has worked with Lowe Lintas and The Glitch, with a portfolio comprising Flipkart, Tanishq, Carlsberg, Mumbai City FC, World Bank, Magnum Ice-cream, Arrow, and more. She has also worked on the Taj, Betterplace Safety Solutions, Nestaway, Botbot.al, and 2359Media.
Having spent over 25 years curating and designing high-end experiences and advising sustainable ventures, Philippa is passionate about discovering stories, culture and people and uses her empathy and passion to manifest unboxed ideas. Shuttling between Yorkshire and India, she helps clients reimagine the possible. A destination development specialist and, having worked on both sides of the industry, a consultant both to leading tour operators as well as DMCs, she is also the author of Escape to India, a columnist and advisor to charities and NGOs. Her adventures are literally a novel – skiing, trekking, white-water rafting, riding priceless Marwari horses, fine-dining with Maharajas, driving vintage cars, sleeping under the stars, discovering new-to-her wildlife species & being off the beaten track. Think Lara Croft, out of the box.
We call him our IP man. Having worked on building brand platforms for iconic brands like Harley Davidson, Ray Ban, Jack Daniel’s, Hard Rock Cafe, Raymond & Taj, Arpito’s body of work has been versatile and at scale. With a long foundational strategy stint, early in his career, with the Times Group in the President’s office, Arpito went on to become the Group Director at Rolling Stone and Man’s World India, launching and giving the cult brand legs in the brand activations and IP space. A Times School of Marketing alumnus, he is a hodophile, music connoisseur and possesses an uncanny knack for creative brand solutions. He revels in his understanding of community platforms, across scale, having engineered and conceived several initiatives for leading global brands. He is also the chief consultant to the Ministry of Music & Arts, Govt. of Nagaland, a consultant with Drishti and has led several initiatives with government bodies and social organisations.
Narrative could well be Anil’s middle name, which expresses itself to telling effect across his diverse roles as an entrepreneur, impact specialist, director-filmmaker, IP producer, business manager, festival director and Corp. communication. His earlier stint as the Editorial Director at Going to School Fund, a creative not-for-profit education trust, saw him ideate and design impact programs, content around sustainability, seeding entrepreneurial skills amongst young students in government schools. His work is powered by his extremely diverse life experiences. As a journalist storyteller with Times of India, HT, DNA and Mid-day, learning filmmaking at UCLA, as an assistant director on the National Award-winning film Fashion, writing a coffee table book with India’s first Oscar-winner, the late Bhanu Athaiya, titled The Art of Costume Design, published by Harper Collins with a foreword by Lord Richard Attenborough, being the India director of the Manhattan Short Film Festival, the world’s first global short film festival, co-creating the VOTE FOR INDIA platform and more. A polymath experience and perspectives are what he brings to venture design.
