This project is designed to promote self-employment and entrepreneurship to enable women to break out of the cycle of poverty and inequality in Indonesia. Micro Small Medium Enterprises play an important role in the socio-economic development of the country’s it enables entrepreneurship amongst people and therefore it is often considered as a nursery for enhancing entrepreneurship and creativity amongst the youth. The MSME sector contributes not only towards the economical growth of an area but also provides employment opportunities to the local people. Considering MSMEs can help in reducing gender disparity and promoting equitable development, the proposed project would strengthen Micro Enterprises to improve the local economy of the region along with empowering women in Indonesia. Through this project we will strengthen the existing women owned microenterprises of Indonesia by attaching methods of extensive research and a well thought strategy (revised periodically) to expand the reach of these small businesses.
Project Background
Indonesia is a transcontinental country with more than 17,000 islands. Located between the Indian ocean and the Pacific ocean it shares lucrative trade relations with various countries, primarily USA, China, Japan and Singapore with major exports in coal briquettes, palm oil, petroleum gas, cars and gold and major imports in refined/crude petroleum vehicle parts and telephones.
With a GDP of 1.159 trillion USD(2021) and GNI of 1059.51 billion USD(2020) Indonesia is one of the emerging market economies of the world. The pivotal aspect to notice here is that the crucial role in developing and sustaining the economy of Indonesia is played by the micro,small and medium enterprises(MSME) as 99% of the enterprises in the country fall into this category.
Though a substantially steady growth graph, Indonesia faces some internal challenges, the ones that might not seem a big hurdle at the moment but would amplify later to create some major loopholes in the economic functioning of the country as these are the fundamental growth seeds of any society;
- Micro and Small enterprises of Indonesia
- Women of Indonesia
Although there are a large number of MSMEs, the majority of micro enterprises do not employ adequate workforce, technology and lack proper financial backup. Most of the existing microenterprises turn out to have low productivity because of the following reasons:
- there is little or no technology uses
- the quality of products is poor
- they are functioning only in local markets
- they have limited access to financial advisors and expertise
- there is no liquidity to expand and
- some recipients may even use the funds advanced for purposes other than starting their own business.
Source: IFC 2016, Women owned enterprises in Indonesia
The inflation in 2001 caused 40% of Indonesia’s population living below the poverty line; the struggling for basic needs and refugee problems lead to a domino effect of socio economic problems, increasing the violence against women dramatically. Domestic violence/ violance by a close relative (↑40%) , rape (↑32%), trafficking in women and selling of girl child for sex and entertainment purposes were recorded by NGOs in their working areas. Owing to several discriminatory laws and traditions, women are often unemployed or engaged in risky and vulnerable work in the informal sector.
The proposed project focuses on amalgamating the two issues and tries to form a solution by creating an interdependence between the two. The project would promote self-employment and entrepreneurship which would enable women to break out of the cycle of poverty and inequality.
Project Rationale
Micro Small Medium Enterprises play an important role in the socio-economic development of the country as it enables entrepreneurship amongst people and therefore it is often considered as a nursery for enhancing entrepreneurship and creativity amongst the youth. The MSME sector contributes not only towards the economical growth of an area but also provides employment opportunities to the local people. Considering MSMEs can help in reducing gender disparity and promoting equitable development, the proposed project would strengthen Micro Enterprises to improve the local economy of the region along with empowering women in Indonesia.
Women constitute 51.2% (2011) of the labour force in Indonesia, hence mobilizing them through entrepreneurship development and training would empower them to start or grow their business. Necessary support will be provided to invoke in them to stand for their rights and have their own voice.
The project will strengthen the existing women owned microenterprises of Indonesia by attaching methods of extensive research and a well thought strategy (revised periodically) to expand the reach of these small businesses. Micro enterprises will benefit from this as they are labour intensive and various organisations and institutions such as UN Women, WGEF, World Bank Group etc. who specifically focus on the issue of Women Rights will assist with the required support both financially and at a community level as the world today believes that supporting women entrepreneurs is vital for economic growth. The project will utilise the key strengths of micro enterprises and will help to develop:
- Human capital
- Social capital
- Financial capital
Aim and Objectives
AIM: The project would promote self-employment and entrepreneurship to enable women to break out of the cycle of poverty and inequality in Indonesia.
- Objective 1. To publish a report on the status of women owned micro enterprises in Indonesia.
- Objective 2. To identify 50 women owned micro enterprises that will be strengthened through a series of capacity building exercises, collaboration and developing linkages.
- Objective 3. To promote women owned micro-enterprises through a series of advocacy and sensitization campaigns.
Beneficiary and Duration
The project would benefit women in general by enhancing their knowledge on women rights, gender equality and would directly benefit 50 women owned micro-enterprises in Indonesia.
Through the project we shall be improving the overall performance of women owned micro enterprises in Indonesia.
The project will be carried out during a period of 18 months.
Project Implementation Plan
Activity 1. Undertake Comprehensive Study: A comprehensive review of literature will be an essential part of the project as it will help us in developing better understanding of the microenterprises in the country. We shall be reviewing existing literature with reference to policy, finances, infrastructure and other related aspects. Steps involved in conducting the analysis will be:
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- Literature Review
- Questionnaire Preparation
- Conducting Interviews
- Data Analysis
- Report Compilation
The report will have detailed information related to the following aspects of micro-entrepreneurship:
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- Existing Policies and Schemes that support micro enterprises
- Skills of entrepreneurs
- Registration and ownership
- Management and control
- Investment
- Product development
- Financial management
- Infrastructure, machinery and technology
- Challenges that the small business faces
- Marketing process and linkages
- Staffing and employee management
- Risk mitigation
- Future Planning
Activity 2. Provide 50 women owned micro enterprises hands on training on entrepreneurship development.
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- Selection of 50 women owned enterprises: We shall identify 50 women owned enterprises through a proper survey of the project sites. The selection of the 50 enterprises will be done through a scoring system. The following process will be used for the selection:
- Advertisement for sending applications
- Screening of applications
- Interview of shortlisted applicants
- Final selection of candidates
- Training of the selected women: Women entrepreneurs will be trained on aspects of business development, understanding financial management, marketing, product design and development. The initial training will be generic in nature and during this time all the 50 women entrepreneurs will be finetuning their business plans. Our experts will work with the women entrepreneurs to develop proper business plans for each of their enterprises.
- In Depth study of individual enterprises: Once the basic training is over, our experts will visit each of the 50 enterprises to understand the working and the major challenges that the enterprise faces. This will include discussions with the women entrepreneurs, employees, customers, local community members and other stakeholders. Our expert will closely examine the major loopholes in the enterprise and will suggest necessary coping strategies.
- Improving skills to meet market demand: We shall provide necessary vocational skill updates of the selected women entrepreneurs, so that they are ready to compete in the market. We shall be providing skill improvement in the following sectors:
- Spice Harvesting and Processing
- Jewellery Making
- Coffee Processing
- Bakery
- Cosmetic
- Traditional Pottery
- Local craft products
- Animal rearing
- Providing business grants: We shall provide a nominal business grant to the 50 enterprises, so that they are able to improve the infrastructure of their respective enterprises.
- Hand Holding and support: We shall help the enterprise to enhance the performance of their enterprise by providing necessary support in the following aspects:
- Registration
- Availing government subsidies
- Developing market linkages
- Digital marketing
- Licences and Certifications
- Linkages with banks and financial institutions
- Selection of 50 women owned enterprises: We shall identify 50 women owned enterprises through a proper survey of the project sites. The selection of the 50 enterprises will be done through a scoring system. The following process will be used for the selection:
Activity 3. Promoting women owned enterprises: For the project to yield desired outcomes, it is important for us to develop a women entrepreneurs friendly ecosystem. This will involve providing a suitable platform within the community and the locality that would support and enable women to become successful entrepreneurs. The following actions to be undertaken:
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- Consultations with local administration: We will organise a series of consultation workshops with local government offices to understand their schemes and policies that support women owned enterprises.
- Collecting successful Case studies: We will also be working on collecting case studies from different locations, where women have successfully built their business empires. These case studies will be used for creating awareness and sensitisation of the local women.
- Mass Awareness Campaign: To make the communities aware the following awareness generation activities will be conducted.
- Street Play: Street plays have been used for conveying messages to the masses for a very long time.
- Display of relevant posters and hoardings: We shall be publishing messages and posters with requests to support women owned micro enterprises.
- Miscellaneous awareness activities:
- Radio or television talk-shows with women leaders.
- Special newspaper supplements.
- Televised shows
- Organizing exhibitions and fairs to promote products made by women micro enterprises.
- Advocacy campaigning: Advocacy will be the most important aspect of the project as it will help in influencing the opinions and decisions of people and organisations towards supporting the women owned microenterprise. For the advocacy campaigns we will be engaging with like-minded organizations and will conduct meetings with parliamentarians, politicians, senior government officials and public servants, private sector leaders and will take their help to influence policy makers in making necessary changes in existing policy and regulation.
- Developing linkages: We shall link the women enterprises with ongoing government schemes, training and incubation centers. We shall also help the women to access and utilise the various schemes that will help them in promoting and expanding their business.
Project Challenges
The biggest challenge that we foresee for the implementation of the project is the active participation of women entrepreneurs in the region. Low entrepreneurship among women in Indonesia can be attributed to discriminatory practices, educational inequality, lack of financial skills and access to markets, infrastructure and necessary training. We shall work towards developing a system that would motivate Indonesian women to develop their business skills to promote their microenterprise.
Organisational Details
The ABC society is a women based organization based in Jakarta. We have been working on women rights, women empowerment and women equality in Indonesia for the last 12 years. We are a group of women from different sectors who are working t onwards to reduce women’s drudgery in our Country.
Over the years we have been funded by various National and International Organizations. We were recently awarded by …………….. Award for exemplary work in the social sector.
