Cutting the Chains: Transforming the Lives of Women Homeworkers

Lead Partner: SEWA Bharat
Project Partners: Textile Recycling for Aid and International Development (TRAID)

Project Location: North India, UK

Project Description

This project is based on an existing effective model with a strong track record. It aims to dramatically improve the socio-economic conditions of women homeworkers in India (Bareilly, Modinagar, New Delhi, Secundrabad) engaged in producing RMG for the UK. It aspires to transform the approach of UK companies towards homeworkers by illustrating the business case for engagement, and it will shorten the supply chain and provide greater transparency - allowing tracking of garments from homeworker to the shop floor.

The project activities and expectations include:

• two fully operational and sustainable centres for women embroidery homeworkers in Delhi producing clothes for UK and international brands (centres located in Sunder Nagari and Rajiv Nagari).,500 extremely poor women homeworkers will have increased monthly wages, they will have access to regular work, to other support services (e.g. skills training, child care, and financial services) and they will no longer be exploited by middlemen.
• establishment of a producer company managed and owned by women homeworkers themselves.
• a grassroots, profitable and scalable business model will be empowering women workers and ensuring the sustainability of these centres and support their potential expansion; brands and suppliers will be negotiating piece rates directly with women workers.
• the scaling up of the existing Delhi centres into three new areas will lead to benefits for 600 women to benefit as above from increased wages and improved socio-economic status (this will also test and illustrate the scalability of the model).
• 10 UK companies and suppliers who source for UK markets will be regularly placing orders with the SEWA.
• wages of homeworkers will increase, transparency will be increased across the supply chain and supply chains will have shortened (removing 1-4 layers of middlemen/sub-contractors).
• concrete changes in business practices and operations regarding homeworkers made by 10 UK garment companies and suppliers producing for UK.
• homeworkers will have become a visible, valued and protected part of the UK RMG supply chain; there will be interest and commitment to replicating this model in other parts of India and in other countries producing RMG for the UK.