Rural Entrepreneurship Ecosystem

The term “ecosystem” alludes to the dynamic, inter-dependent nature of various players and resources involved at the local level, such as entrepreneurs, funding, talent, mentoring and physical space. In this article, our main discussion will be focussed on the rural entrepreneurship ecosystem. Ecosystem builders drive long-term change by supporting entrepreneurship in their communities. These builders come from a variety of backgrounds and expertise, including entrepreneurs, grassroot community leaders, university leaders, academics, philanthropists, local government officials, corporate leaders and media. These builders work for innovation to help create more start-ups and lower barriers for the makers, the doers and the dreamers. While we focus on a larger picture, the objective is to create jobs which mostly can be supported through the mode of enterprise development.

To build a strong ecosystem in the geographies of Eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bundelkhand region, Uttarakhand and National Capital Region (NCR); Development Alternatives through its enterprise development programmes has launched regional coalitions as multi-stakeholder learning and action platforms. The coalition, in essence, is a joint action task force of local policy and market stakeholders with entrepreneurs to enable micro enterprise development for women and youth, with the objectives to:

• Promote listening and learning discourses on entrepreneurship and job creation with various stakeholders through workshops, e-mailers and other interactive media.

• Undertake collective action and influence local initiatives to help communities access information, opportunities and integrated business support services especially the vulnerable and marginalised communities.

Initially, the regional coalitions were launched in June 2018, starting with Eastern UP in Mirzapur and Bundelkhand in Jhansi. Thereafter, these were replicated in Uttarakhand and the National Capital Region. Herein, the members agreed to come together on a periodic basis to set up an enabling and empowering platform for entrepreneurship. The members of the coalition consist of representatives from primary government bodies engaged in entrepreneurship like District Industries Commission, Rural Self Employment Training Institute, NABARD, Financial Institutions like District Lead Banks and Micro Finance Institutions, Market Aggregators as well as Academia and Civil Society Organisations.

The coalitions in all geographies are showing signs of accelerated action, leading to a spike in the number of enterprises setup and supported. There is increasing evidence of emerging convergence with a host of institutions, facilitated through these coalitions. In Eastern Uttar Pradesh, Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII) and the National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) is providing credit linkages to entrepreneurs. In Bundelkhand on the other hand, emerging working partnerships are ongoing with District Industries Centre, NABARD and Punjab National Bank, Bundelkhand University and SRLM. In Uttarakhand, NRLM as part of its Aajeevika mission is providing platform for SHG access and providing market access to group based entrepreneurs by setting up rural marts.

While coalitions are formed and have started meeting at regular time intervals in different geographies, it is observed that each geography has a unique cultural, intellectual and industrial inputs, and the catalytic role that explicit, intentional collaboration can have in fostering the growth of an entrepreneurial ecosystem. Mimicking any existing ecosystem is not necessarily the solution. After years of hard work and experimentation, enterprise development programmes are establishing their own ecosystem through local and vibrant connections.

Coalition in Eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bundelkhand

If we compare Eastern UP and Bundelkhand, Eastern Uttar Pradesh as a region is more entrepreneurial in nature because of an existing carpet craft industry running since generations while in Bundelkhand, the society being agrarian needs more handholding support in enterprise development.

It is imperative to create tailor made solutions for the formation of coalitions in these geographies. ■

(Source: website – www.forbes.com, Contributor – Kauffman Foundation, article - From Ingredients to Recipe: Startup Ecosystems and Collaboration)
 

Ankit Mudgal
amudgal@devalt.org