Kudumbashree, Kerala’s flagship programme for women’s livelihood security, has been in existence now for over two decades, a period during which the strengths of the programme have been held up to monitoring, scrutiny and evaluation by scholars and independent agencies. Currently, the Kudumbashree network of women’s self-help groups touch the lives of over 4.3 million women (out of a total population of around 33 million people in Kerala in 2011) in sectors as diverse as catering, farming and manufacture. Initiated by the Government of Kerala in 1997, the scheme is recognised as one of the most innovative and successful poverty alleviation programmes that exist in India.

Kudumbashree’s contributions to food security and nutrition has recently been highlighted by the High Level Panel of Experts of the Committee on World Food Security in its new report titled “Multi-stakeholder partnerships to finance and improve food security and nutrition in the framework of the 2030 Agenda” (HLPE 2018).

One of the important contributions of this report is a framework for assessing performance of multi-stakeholder partnerships (MSP) in providing food security and nutrition for all. As an example of an MSP that follows the pattern of a government-community partnership rather than a government-private partnership, Kudumbashree breaks new ground. The published report provides an assessment of Kudumbashree using this framework.

An MSP is defined in the report as an arrangement between “two or more different spheres of society (public sector, private sector and/or civil society)” that share resources and risks for achieving a common goal which is of public interest. The report analyses the role MSPs play in achieving food security and nutrition (FSN) for all, and identify challenges and issues that can arise when MSPs complement the efforts of governments.

To critically evaluate the performance of MSPs, the report suggests a framework based on eight key qualities that influence the performance of MSPs. These eight qualities consists of three “result-related qualities: effectiveness, impact, and capacity to mobilise resources” and five “process-related qualities: inclusiveness, accountability, transparency, reflexivity, and efficiency.”

Kudumbashree functions at three levels within each local government. At the lowest level, “the neighbourhood groups (consisting of women) provide micro-credit to their members, using the groups’ savings, and helping them engage in various income-generating activities including food production, processing and retail.” (Box 19, page 61).

In its assessment, the report highlights an important outcome of Kudumbashree’s livelihood security focus that deserves to be highlighted. This is that Kudumbashree not only meets poverty reduction objectives but has also acted as a tool of political awareness in Kerala. Being part of Kudumbashree has left a deep impact on the lives of many rural women in Kerala by providing them a platform for political organisation. The openness in the functioning of Kudumbashree is highlighted as a quality in the performance assessment. As mentioned earlier, Kudumbashree is a success story in government-civil society partnerships (as compared to the usually talked about public-private partnerships).

The report’s performance assessment of Kudumbashree highlighted the following.

First, the programme has met its objectives with respect to poverty alleviation and income generation. Kudumbashree women acquired new skills and started income-generating activities. This liberated them from the heavy dependence on external moneylenders and from extreme poverty.

Secondly, Kudumbashree has led to women’s empowerment in ways other than economic. Kannan and Raveendran (2017) conducted a 10–year assessment (2005–2015) of the impact of Kudumbashree in terms of poverty reduction and women’s empowerment. Kudumbashree women have found a political voice and gained leadership qualities. They have acquired the capacity to express their views in meetings and claim government resources, and have expressed higher levels of self-esteem. Nearly 16,000 Kudumbashree women have participated in local elections and over 7,000 have been elected in different bodies, including over 300 in leading positions.

Thirdly, in terms of economic empowerment and financial inclusion, 96 percent of the Kudumbashree women surveyed had opened a bank account in their own name.

Fourth, the impact of scaling up. The Kudumbashree network has progressively extended to cover the whole of Kerala. Kudumbashree women are now engaged, through the Kudumbashree National Resource Organization (NRO), in training and advising similar women’s groups and government programmes in 16 other states.

In 2015-2016, Kudumbashree pooled financial resources coming from the federal government and from Kerala State (INR 2770 million), from banks (INR 24,800) and from the people themselves, through thrift and saving groups (INR 3420 million).

The report states that Kudumbashree has scored high on what it calls “process-related” qualities, namely inclusiveness, accountability, transparency, reflexivity and efficiency.

In terms of its reach Kudumbashree had drawn in 4.3 million women. According to Kannan and Raveendran (2017), two-thirds of them can be considered as “poor and vulnerable”. About one-fifth are widowed, divorced or separated.

Kudumbashree’s three-tier democratic structure as well as the different levels of participation — the central government, state government of Kerala, districts and municipalities, contributes to a high level of accountability.

Kudumbashree also fulfils the transparency criterion. Its website not only has detailed information on financial budgets and expenditures, but also minutes of meetings held. Book-keeping and auditing are undertaken at all levels, including the community level. Any member can ask for a copy of the audit report.

Kudumbashree’s reflexivity is illustrated in relation to a housing scheme. In the past, banks had lent funds to Kudumbashree community development societies (CDS), the highest level of organization in the network. However, the CDS lacked proper accounting skills and procedures and encountered management issues. Later, the Government introduced a new housing grant scheme. This created tensions between Kudumbashree women who had received the loans and those who benefited from the Government grant. After tripartite discussions, organized in the Kudumbashree network between the Government, the banks and the women’s groups, it was decided that the Government would take over the outstanding loans, and the banks would lend funds directly to the neighbourhood groups, the lowest level of organization.

Finally, on the count of efficiency, the Kudumbashree network scores through its collaboration with public authorities at different levels, women’s groups and other partners (including banks). For example, the Kudumbashree network (Box 19) was used successfully to conduct a vaccination campaign in India, probably at a lower cost than if all the women in the network had to be reached individually.

References

High Level Panel of Experts of the Committee on World Food Security (HLPE )(2018), Multi-stakeholder Partnerships to Finance and Improve Food Security and Nutrition in the Framework of the 2030 Agenda, A Report by the High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition of the Committee on World Food Security, Rome, available at http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/hlpe/hlpe_documents/HLPE_Reports/HLPE-Report-13_EN.pdf

Jacob, J. (2009), A study on Kudumbashree Project: A Poverty Eradication Programme in Kerala, available at http://kudumbashree.org/storage//files/ort1w_kshree%20study%20report2.pdf

Kannan, K.P. and Raveendran, G. (2017), Poverty, Women and Capability: A Study of the Impact of Kerala’s Kudumbashree System on its Members and their Families, available at http://kudumbashree.org/storage//files/1yzdo_kshree%20full%20ms_kpkcorrected%20with%20cover_08.11.17-1.pdf

Kudumbashree website http://www.kudumbashree.org/

Kudumbashree Plan Progress Summary webpage http://kudumbashree.org/pages/173

Kudumbashree National Resource Organisation website http://www.keralanro.org/

Sanandakumar, S., and Krishnakumar, P. K. (2014), “Kudumbashree: Kerala’s all-women Rs 2,262 crore savings group finances microenterprises of members,” The Economic Times, available at https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/entrepreneurship/kudumbashree-keralas-all-women-rs-2262-crore-savings-group-finances-microenterprises-of-members/articleshow/42397292.cms