The Kurubas, one of the oldest communities in India, are traditional sheep keepers in the Deccan Plateau, an arid hill station with ideal environmental conditions for sheep rearing: arid/semi-arid land that is poor for crop yield yet plentiful for sheep grazing.
Kuruba men are responsible for grazing, penning and protecting the sheep, while women care for young lambs and wool processing. Tending Deccani sheep has been the traditional occupation of this community for generations. Although the sheep are used for fertilizer, tillage, milk and meat, their unique value is their diverse color of wool classified into six different shades; nalla (black), barrigi (reddish broad/beige), neeli (ash), jalla (white-black), kassera (light ash) and tella.
Demand for wool has decreased over the last decade, resulting in reduced overall family income. As national demand for mutton increases, Deccani sheep are crossbred to improve meat quality, but this consequently compromises the quality and uniqueness of the wool. As a result, the Purebred Deccani sheep population are now threatened, in addition to the Kuruba’s traditional livelihood.
Since 2003, Mitan has worked with 11 communities, like the Kurubas, to revive traditional crafts while simultaneously improving livelihoods. To date, they have facilitated exports to the tune of Rs. 5 cores (over $1 million USD) and estimates that they help increase family income by an average of Rs. 1,500 – 6,000 ($33 - $133 USD) per month (an estimated 50% - 300+% increase).
Reviving and scaling a community’s traditional crafts takes Mitan an average of 1-2 years per community. Mitan dedicates the first 2-3 months to research that considers traditional practices and beliefs to integrate into product design. The next 2 – 5 months are spent working actively with the community on design and production. Products are not finalized until another 8 – 16 months of feedback from both domestic and international markets. Community engagement and relationships are critical to the long-term success of Mitan. Designers and marketing consultants spend ample time interacting with communities, to ensure that community traditions are at the forefront of production.
Using this approach, Mitan (in partnership with Shramik Abhivrudhi Sangh, a registered society that mobilizes marginalized communities in Karnataka State) worked with The Kurubas and developed a product line of wool handbags, hybrid wool-banana fiber floor mats, and cushion covers. Designers also noticed traditional tattoos of the Kuruba community and worked with women to draw and paint replications for a greeting card line. The Kuruba community now benefits from a secure livelihood as well as thriving Deccani sheep population.
In 2003 Mitan prepared for its first appearance at ECHP fare-tradeshow in Delhi. The results were overwhelming with interest from Europe and Japan merchandisers, as well as FabIndia, a modern Indian clothing chain. From there, orders began flooding in with an average of over 80% of orders resulting from ECHP tradeshows. Sales quickly followed worldwide and Mitan has since been unable to keep up with demand; 96% of total sales are exported; top countries include Japan (25% of exports), Belgium (23%), Australia (10%), UK (10%), Sweden (9%) and Denmark (6%). Quality is Key
When asked why international markets have been so successful, the answer is unanimous: quality. In the initial production stages, Mitan sends sample products to international retailers and incorporates feedback into product design. Mitan’s believes that superior product quality will beckon sales naturally, an approach that has so far proven successful as international sales rose 13% from 2007 to 2008 (while national textile exports failed to reach the national target of $25 billion by 18%). Socially-Conscience Consumers
US citizen and Indian retailer, John, suggests that quality is key, but not the whole gamut. John also leverages the foreign market, yet within Indian borders, selling products in Goa, a popular tourist destination. In addition to quality, John claims products sell due to their eco-friendly characteristics (are colors are natural dyes from flowers, bark, nuts and minerals) and social enterprise story.
Mitan strategically leverages these sales-points as well. A small tag accompanies each product, briefly describing the product’s community roots and bragging a Craftmark logo (an initiative that verifies and promotes Indian handicrafts and craft genres). Mitan’s products carefully consider the preferences of the rising ‘socially-conscientious consumer’ who is willing to overlook a higher price tag to contribute to society (on average consumers are willing to pay a 10% premium for socially conscientious products.)
The driving force behind Mitan is not the traditional bottom-line. Instead of monitoring the dollar value throughout the value chain, Mitan places higher value on human relationships. “Mitan”, in this business, colloquially means to ‘uphold human elements in business.’ Regardless of how one may ‘monetize’ or ‘humanize’ the process, Mitan undoubtedly adds both monetary value (increased family income) and human value (increased community pride and ability to sustain cultural traditions.) Traditional Value-Chain
According to a traditional value-chain frame work, Mitan helps increase income throughout the production chain.
For example, in 2006, 265 women were responsible for wool and jute processing and each earned an average of Rs. 5,400 ($120 USD) per year. By 2008, production had scaled to about 500 women, and increased average income by 1,795% to Rs. 102,315 ($2,274 USD) each.
Training and technology is an important part of the value-chain. In the initial stages, approximately 3,000 shepherds participated in training on shearing, sorting, and wool grading, and 100 women on spinning, weaving, bag making and felting. Women participants benefited from new pedal-driven spinning wheels which helped increase production from 200-250g per day to 300-500g.
Recently, Mitan evaluated its value chain and streamlined production by specializing production centers. For example the community of Gokak Taluk was 99% below average in bag production, but produced 70% of total fabric in 2008. Another village, Makelmardi produced 49% of final products in the same year. Specialization requires Mitan to link production centers together (for example, taking the fabric from Gokak to the final production center in Makelmardi) but increases production.
Mitan Value-Chain
As a social enterprise, Mitan prefers to focus on a ‘humanized’ value chain. For example, in the case of the Kuruba community, the ‘Mitan-value’ is in maintaining a rare and ancient breed of sheep, allowing shepherds and their families to manage a family tradition with pride, and wholesalers to pass along a piece of Indian culture and heritage to global consumers. For Mitan, this is where the real value lies and they work to incorporate a similar humanized value chain in each community.
Wool Production [Cost & Earnings]
Earnings / kg
Earnings / Cost p. Product
Wool Production [Cost & Earnings]
Earnings / kg
Earnings / Cost p. Product
Shepherds
Rs. 5 - 7
Nil
Bag Makers
Nil
Rs. 175
Wool Traders
Rs. 9 - 10
Nil
Finishers & Packagers
Nil
Rs. 350
Wool Processors
Rs. 24
Nil
Wholesaler
Nil
Rs. 1,500
Yarn Spinners
Rs. 69
Nil
Retailer
Nil
Rs. 4,500
Yarn Exporters
Rs. 110
Nil
Mitan faces several challenges they are working to overcome to scale-up current production, as well as work with new communities:
» In order to meet the high demand volume from international retailers, Mitan believes in engaging in production by masses not ‘mass production’ and opposes mechanization in order to preserve craft and quality.
» International retailer expectations are: (1) Timely product delivery (100 bags requires 30 days to prepare and 1,000 bags require 120 days , a lag-time slightly longer than retailers prefer) and (2) Custom alterations, such as colors, sizes, etc., both of which are difficult given the time-intensive nature of product design and production.
» Expanding into new communities requires significant time and human interaction upfront. Although Mitan works with 16 SHGs, consisting of 220 women for bag production alone, design development remains a tedious process.
Mitan is faced with balancing international demands while simultaneously maintaining handmade, quality products that are rooted in local heritage.
Q).
How can Mitan maintain the craft and detail of each product while growing supply? How can Mitan increase production time without compromising quality? How can Mitan continue to reach new villages given their time-intensive approach and limited operational capacity?
