Aside from the thrift and savings promoted through the SHG's, MUNJAVU currently runs 6 activities as livelihood interventions:

1. Dairy development
2. Lay veterinarian programme
3. Grain bank
4. Gold loan scheme
5. Dry land horticulture (DLH) (will be coupled with a land mortgage scheme)
6. Home-shopping system

Home-shopping was selected to look at thoroughly. The other activities are outlined in Annex 2. These activities are designed to promote new livelihood options for women and families as well as to diminish the effects of severe poverty in the region. These schemes adhere to the short- and long-term objectives of MUNJAVU by providing training, increasing women's control over financial assets, and introducing greater resources and opportunities to build women's self-confidence and self-reliance. For each intervention a Working Group of 4 MMS member women was appointed.

Home Shopping

MUNJAVU has always put a lot of effort into the identification and promotion of Micro-Enterprises suitable for the local environment. In the frame of ISPWDK's livelihood intervention on a pilot basis, MUNJAVU decided on "home-shopping": A simple form of rural marketing. Volunteering women are identified through SHG, training is given in marketing and accounting, and a basket of goods provided, which they sell from their homes. The rationale behind it was that villages have no access to good quality, low price commodities. And income would be generated through an activity which could be managed mostly at home, and can be combined with farming / household work. Additionally adolescent girls could be included in the activity, a vulnerable group which has not directly benefited from watershed development. After conducting a market survey the household requirements and the future market (the villages) were assessed. The demand was identified as follows:

In a first phase MUNJAVU would organize purchase, storage, stock accounts and distribution. Hindustan Lever (HLL) was ready to provide items at a cheap rate, but in large quantities and with pressure on how much has to be sold in a certain period. HLL, a multinational corporation (Unilever Europe) is successfully taking advantage of the SHG network in India to reach out to the rural market, e.g. in Andhra Pradesh, the pioneer state for SHG (450'000 groups with 6 billion Rs. or 150 million Euros savings. Karnataka reaches similar figures soon). After an initial supply of HLL products, the goods palette of home-shopping was shifted to mainly non-HLL products which became more important (see list of items below).

Presently, MUNJAVU has a direct relationship with 500 SHG i.e. approximately 5000 households. These families at present purchase all their household requirements from different sources. A household spends about Rs. 300 per month on food and everyday items. Most village women would appreciate a one-time shopping stop instead of going to markets and different Kirana shops. Villagers buy their home-needs from the local traders, most of the cases on credit, in small quantities and only to meet one or two days' needs. Thus villagers pay comparatively higher prices because the local traders sell after adding all their costs and margins. Some traders charge interests when giving on credit, but many actually don't. Festivals are a time of major spending. At present the home shopping system runs as follows: Ningappa of MUNJAVU is in charge. A home shopping working group of 4 MUNJAVU members was appointed. These women know which quality of what product to buy and what rate they pay in Tavaragera market. Then they negotiate the price with the wholesalers or market persons. Some of the working group members run a provision store in their village, so they know consumption patterns and costs. In all the villages volunteer women were selected. The criterias were:

· no specific qualifications required i.e: reading and writing is not a must, if a supporting person can be identified · must be interested · must be willing to start small with 3% commission (which would later be increased. HLL often pays 11% in their schemes) · preferably MUNJAVU member, or at least their relative · Girls aged 15-19 years are given priority to serve as sales volunteers, creating the potential to improve adolescent girls' role in the household and community, social status, and exposure to new ideas and opportunities. These girls would also participate in the life skills training programme described under the lay veterinarian project, opening new forums of information, sharing, and support for these girls. The experiences of these volunteers and the impact of the home-shopping project on their social status, decision-making ability, and personal growth will also be documented and monitored through qualitative research activities (by SAMUHA and University of California in San Francisco (UCSF) in the joint Adolescent Livelihoods and Reproductive Health Project)

The VMC (Village MUNJAVU Committee) informed the women via SHG network and let them identify volunteers, which will be approved by the VMC and reported to MUNJAVU. These volunteers receive training each month on sales, marketing, as well as book-keeping and financial management. After a first training including HLL the women were given a first selection of goods from HLL. These products sold less than expected, so the goods palette was widened to meet the demand of items such as dal, rice, jaggery, kopra (dry coconut), or sambar masala. These goods were packed and stored in Tavargera. Volunteering packing women from SHG's would be paid Rs 10 per day. Next to soaps, shampoo and detergent powder from HLL and a local producer, the following items are provided now (November 2003):

· broken rice = cheapest quality of rice (broken pieces from mill when whole rice is sieved). Rs. 9/kg

· maida (flour) = Rs. 11-12/kg

· thoor daal = Rs. 14/kg

· sugar = Rs. 14/kg

· jaggery = Rs. 12/kg

· tea powder = Rs. 60/kg

· jeera (cumin), mustard seeds, turmeric powder

· rava (wheat) = Rs.12/kg

· puttani (fried Bengal Gram) = Rs. 23-24/kg (seasonal)

· kopra (dry coconut halves) = Rs. 46/kg (seasonal) - packed 250 gms

· agarbhathi (incense sticks) = Rs. 3.50 - 4.50 per pack

· match boxes

Of the 9 villages where a volunteer woman was ready to participate, 2 dropped out of the scheme. That leaves 7 women who offer home shopping products in their villages. Once this system is established, MUNJAVU hopes to launch "phase II" of the intervention: Expand to more villages (even possible to other MUNJAVU project areas beyond Kanakanala), include a wider range of goods and above all add in items produced by SHG member women such as handicrafts, processed and packed food like jeera / chilly powder or different masalas for cooking. Other local production options could be assessed at that stage, so that the home-shopping project opens the door for innovative micro-enterprise development and alternative sources of livelihood for the local areas. This future strategy relies on purchasing power of the village households, so any healthy farming (supported by SAMUHA's other activities such as watershed development and organic farming) or other economic improvements in the villages adds to the viability of the home-shopping scheme.

Up to date, a total of goods worth Rs 98'240 was purchased, and the closing stock at present is Rs 9349, so total sales are Rs 88'891. There are no significant benefits as yet.

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