The Entrepreneurs Associates (tEA) launched the ‘Uplifting Women Street Vendors Program’ in Arunachal Pradesh on Sunday at a program held at St. Francis School in Dadam Block of Tirap District. The State is the fourth State in the Northeast where tEA has launched the flagship program after Nagaland, Manipur and Assam.
The inaugural event was attended by 124 women from Dadam village. The audience comprised of women who are regularly engaged in producing and marketing of local farm yields in Dadam and neighboring town of Khonsa, tEA informed in a press release. These women engage in door-to-door sale or dot the streets with their local produces ranging from variety of fruits and vegetables, both farmed and foraged from the wild, it added.
The program was moderated by Chanem Thingnok; CEO of Khajen Farmers Producer Company Limited. Chubatemjen, Content Writer at tEA, spoke on the origin, vision, and mission of tEA and the relevance of the Uplifting Women Street Vendors Programme, especially in rural spaces. He elaborated on the impact of this initiative since its inception under the mentorship of the Executive Director of The Entrepreneurs Associates, Neikule Doulo. He further substantiated on strategies for women to attain financial freedom and the vital role that blue collar jobs play in sustaining the economy.
Khiapgi Agi, CEO of Pedmoahty Farmers Producer Company Limited, stressed on the importance of savings and briefed the women on the various profitable saving pools trained under tEA. Also at the program, Senya Lowang, a lawyer and CEO of Sunphiak Farmers Producer Company Limited, enlightened the women of their legal rights as street vendors and the availability of seeking free legal aid from the State Legal Service Authority.
Liamja Sumnyan, President of the Dadam Catholic Church expressed his utmost delight to The Entrepreneurs Associates for pioneering such an empowering initiative in Arunachal Pradesh, specifically with regards to Dadam. The program concluded with a vote of thanks and felicitation from the moderator, followed by an interactive Q&A session with the women street vendors.
Launched in October 2017, the Uplifting Women Street Vendors Program is a flagship program of The Entrepreneurs Associates to empower women involved in the network of marketing farm produce. The program, which is unique to tEA and one of a kind in the entire NER India, engages with women street vendors, producers who also sell their yields, and aggregators who link rural products with the urban markets.
Till date, tEA has trained and worked with 7000 women street vendors in Nagaland, Manipur, and Assam with plans to branch out to other neighboring states in the upcoming days. Under the program, tEA has been providing training on financial & business management, skills training, health and legal services, mentorship and linkages to markets and Zero Interest Loans. The Entrepreneurs Associates hopes that by 2025, 10,000 women street vendors will be impacted under the program.
