Decoding Impact

With the government push towards an ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’, India has signalled that MSME will drive employment opportunities in the country. By 2025, MSMEs are anticipated to account for 50% of the national GDP and 60% of exports. Despite governments' best efforts, more than 90% of MSMEs remain micro-enterprises. Instead of growing from small to large firms, MSMEs are stuck in the missing middle syndrome- perennially small and unable to grow. While the government has taken steps to address this through various schemes, the MSME ecosystem has seen a rise of digital lending models as a potential solution to the credit gap. These digital models are enabling a digital footprint of businesses and also offering customised products based on the needs of the firms. In this podcast episode on the Financial Inclusion of MSMEs, we are joined by Bindu Ananth (Chair, Co-founder and Managing Trustee, Dvara Holdings), who has over 20 years of experience in the sector. We explore the challenges and potential solutions for the unique financing needs of MSMEs in India. We will also deep dive into major causes that have prevailed MSMEs in accessing affordable credit along with understanding the opportunities that lie ahead for digital lending in India.

As supply chains across the globe expand and evolve, the effect their operations have on the 3P’s - People, Planet and Profits, becomes increasingly complex.  The effects on livelihoods are immense as more than 450 million people today are employed as a part of global supply chains, with a significant proportion of informal livelihoods depending on them. Supply chain operations result in over five times higher carbon emissions than the direct operations of corporations. More than 90% of biodiversity loss and water stress is today attributed to unsustainable extraction and processing of raw materials, fuels, and food. The good news is that there is also an increasing willingness for firms, especially agribusinesses, to make their supply chains more resilient and sustainable on all fronts – one major decision being procuring or sourcing raw materials for their products sustainably. However, there continue to be supply- and demand-side challenges.  To discuss the nuances of this issue, we have with us Mr Jagjeet Singh Kandal (Country Director at IDH India) and Mr Rijit Sengupta (Head, Centre for Responsible Business). We discuss how we can address existing challenges, bridge information asymmetries, and make sustainable sourcing a reality.

The skilling landscape in India continues to be plagued by issues such as supply and demand mismatch of skilled personnel, limited training facilities and a lack of effective credentialing systems.  The Digital Ecosystem for Skilling and Livelihood, or the DESH Stack e-portal has been launched with the aim to bring together stakeholders in one digital ecosystem, enabling easier discovery of opportunities and services and improving verification credibility through the digital skilling credentials of citizens. In this episode of 'Decoding Impact', we have with us Mr. Satish Mohan, CTO and Co-founder, Dhiway. Satish takes us through the evolution of digital platforms, elaborating how the DESH Stack can facilitate credentialing, verifiability and discovery for citizens, helping them secure gainful employment. Linkedin: Sattva Knowledge Institute Twitter: @sattvaknowledge Instagram: @sattvaknowledgeinstitute

According to PLFS 2021, a staggering 80% of women attribute their absence from the labour force to being engaged in domestic duties, making the unpaid labour economy a central theme for the discourse on women's economic participation in India.   In this podcast episode, we try to understand the context of women and the unpaid labour economy in India, and why Indian women are less economically empowered than other countries in the Indian subcontinent. We deep-dive into the methods to understand it and address some of these challenges.    To discuss this, we are joined by Dr Sona Mitra. Sona is currently the Principal Economist at IWWAGE and a Lead at Krea University. She also teaches as adjunct faculty at the Ambedkar University Delhi. Her specialisations are in research on gender and labour development, economics, public policy and labour statistics. Linkedin: Sattva Knowledge Institute Twitter: @sattvaknowledge Instagram: @sattvaknowledgeinstitute

Women account for 48% of India's population however, with only 19% of them being a part of the labour force, our country suffers from an alarmingly low female participation rate in the workforce.   In this episode of Decoding Impact, we have Mitali Nikore as our guest speaker who is an economist, a gender policy specialist and the founder of the youth-led research group Nikore Associates. In our conversation with her, we elucidate why a country like India which is considered one of the potential superpowers of the world lags behind with its women still not as economically empowered as they should be.   Through this dialogue, we unravel some key insights from recent important surveys like the PLFS and National Family and House Health Survey, explore themes like burdening societal expectations from women and discuss ways to make the situation better. Linkedin: Sattva Knowledge Institute Twitter: @sattvaknowledge Instagram: @sattvaknowledgeinstitute

Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) are creating 11.1 crore jobs in India, second only to the agricultural sector. However, they are plagued by an acute shortage of, and access to formal credit. For this episode of Decoding Impact we will explore a potential solution for this in the form of technology, specifically the opportunities presented by the Open Credit Enablement Network, or OCEN. We explore how it can enable access to credit for MSMEs on a national scale. We delve into the network itself, as well as the engagement with lenders, credit products, distribution engine, and finally, the role of philanthropy in accelerating its adoption. To have this conversation with us, we have Mr Hrushi Mehta, who is a Co-founder and Chief Evangelist at CredAll. Linkedin: Sattva Knowledge Institute Twitter: @sattvaknowledge Instagram: @sattvaknowledgeinstitute

Small and marginal farmers comprise 85% of all the farmers in India. They are plagued by issues such as lack of bargaining power, credit taxes, unavailability of farm inputs and access to various government and private sector-led farm interventions. Farmer Producer Organisations (FPO) have the potential to address these issues and make agriculture viable for Indian farmers. FPOs have been around for the last twenty years, and recently we have seen exponential growth in their numbers. However, the promise of FPOs, while exponential, is currently limited by a key factor. If the goal of doubling farmer incomes is to be achieved, it is necessary to find ways to build the capabilities of FPO leaders. Across the board, it has been acknowledged that building and finding this capability has been a challenge. To guide us through the myriad challenges that FPO capacity building entails, we have with us Mr Emmanual Murray for this episode of Decoding Impact. Mr Murray is currently working as an Investment Director at Caspian Equity, and is considered one of the most passionate and knowledgeable experts in the FPO ecosystem.  In our conversation, we get a picture of the FPO landscape, the challenges that prevent the scaling up of FPOs, the quality of leaders needed for this ecosystem, the role of capital and some promises that these institutions hold for Indian farmers. Linkedin: Sattva Knowledge Institute Twitter: @sattvaknowledge Instagram: @sattvaknowledgeinstitute

India is estimated to have 6.3 crore micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) that have the potential to flourish with innovative sales and marketing efforts, but are currently not part of the digital revolution. In this episode of Decoding Impact, we will explore an upcoming digital platform and protocol, the Open Network for Digital Commerce, or ONDC, and how it will enable access and supply of digital markets to many MSMEs in India. To shed light on ONDC we have with us Mr Sujith Nair, who is the CEO and co-founder of Beckn Foundation. Through the discussion, we will not only understand ONDC itself, but also protocols and how these can change the interoperability between buyers and sellers. We also delve into the current maturity of the ecosystem, as well as the role philanthropy might be able to play to strengthen the ecosystem. Linkedin: Sattva Knowledge Institute Twitter: @sattvaknowledge Instagram: @sattvaknowledgeinstitute

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the distress, isolation, fear and anxiety that followed, mental health and well-being is a critical conversation that has arisen. India faces an acute mental health crisis. Mental morbidity affects over 1 in 7 Indians during their lifetime, at least one in five adults suffers from depression at some point in their life, and suicides are on the rise, with 12 deaths by suicide per lakh population in 2021. It is crucial for us, now more than ever, that we shift from a purely treatment-driven approach to ensuring holistic care, even at the primary healthcare level, by equipping individuals and communities with the right knowledge, and addressing the stigma which inhibits health-seeking behaviour for mental health. In this episode of Decoding Impact, we are joined by Dr Soumitra Pathare, Consultant Psychiatrist and Director of the Centre of Mental Health Law and Policy, based at the Indian Law Society, Pune. Dr Pathare shares with us his views on understanding mental health and its socio-cultural nuances in the Indian context, barriers that limit mental health interventions, understanding the treatment gap and recommendations to solve mental health at the systemic level. Linkedin: Sattva Knowledge Institute Twitter: @sattvaknowledge Instagram: @sattvaknowledgeinstitute

Three billion people the world over are experiencing the phenomenon of 'hidden hunger'. In India, approximately 80% of the farmers are small-holder farmers. In today's episode of Decoding Impact, we discuss a solution that has the potential to transform both of these: biofortification.   The UN recently declared 2023 as the International Year of Millets, with the intent to build momentum for millet production and trade while heralding the benefits of nutrition, sustainability and economic empowerment for farmers. Furthermore, following the increased awareness about fitness and health that the pandemic ushered in, there is a resurgence in the popularity of superfood grains like foxtail millets, ragi, jowar and pearl millets.  With this accruing global focus on solutions for health, well-being and farmer livelihoods, as well as the growing interest in climate change resilient practices in agriculture, there has arguably never been a better time to scale biofortification. In this episode of Decoding Impact, we are joined by Mr Ravinder Grover, the Programme Lead from Harvest Plus, who is an expert in the biofortification domain, and comes with extensive consulting experience. We discuss with him how the potential of agricultural produce, including the superfood millets, can be accelerated through the agricultural treatment and application of biofortification. Ravinder unpacks for us what biofortification is, how it can make grains climate change-resilient, how farmers can benefit, the practical application of biofortification and the trade-offs and barriers to scaling this agricultural practice in India and globally. Linkedin: linkedin.com/company/sattva-knowledge-institute/ Instagram: @sattvaknowledgeinstitute Twitter: @sattvaknowledge