Improving livelihoods of rural weavers through digital training

Digital Empowerment Foundation and Commonwealth of Learning provided a digital skill training and capacity building program to 2000 weavers and artisans. Although the training was provided to 2000, due to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) situation, the project team in consultation with the Commonwealth of Learning, could only reach 974 people to conduct the Endline survey. The study aimed to understand the impact of training provided to the artisans and weavers, on their business and marketing strategies and the change in information and communication technology (ICT) uses and practices especially during the times of COVID-19.

Given that the objective of the project was to provide digital skills to weavers and artisans for improving their livelihood, the project has been able to achieve its objective especially in the areas of using online banking, using e-commerce for business and using digital wallets. 91 per cent of the beneficiaries indicated that the training interventions helped them to increase selling of their products online. Income of 72 per cent of the respondents increased after training by the use of media for business. The average monthly income of respondents has increased by Rs.6300 after taking the training. There are some areas of digital skills which require more focus and work to be done, such as: making weavers and artisans understand the importance of using financial institutions such as banks and cooperatives for leveraging financial assistance; setting up an e-commerce business; and the use of social media platforms and Internet for business.

Edited excerpts from publication. Show less