Shakti - Project Hul 426pq

Changing lives in rural India

Unilever in India • Unilever has been in India since 1895 • Hindustan Lever formally incorporated in 1956 • A subsidiary of Unilever (51.5%) • Most sought after recruiter among India’s B schools

• Source of employment • 15,000 permanent employees • 200,000 indirect jobs

Unilever • One of the largest consumer goods companies in the world • Global, regional and local brands • 223 000 employees world-wide • Brands on sale in 151 countries • € 65.3 million spent on community projects in 2003 (1.7% pre-tax profits)

Mission • Unilever’s mission is to add vitality to life. We meet everyday needs for nutrition, hygiene, and personal care with brands that help people feel good, look good and get more out of life.

Introduction • Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) to tap this market conceived of Project Shakti. This project was started in 2001 with the aim of increasing the company’s rural distribution reach as well as providing rural women with income-generating opportunities. This is a case where the social goals are helping achieve business goals.

• The recruitment of a Shakti Entrepreneur or Shakti Amma (SA) begins with the executives of HUL identifying the uncovered village. The representative of the company meets the panchayat and the village head and identify the woman who they believe will be suitable as a SA. After training she is asked to put up Rs 20,000 as investment which is used to buy products for selling. The products are then sold door-to-door or through petty shops at home. On an average a Shakti Amma makes a 10% margin on the products she sells.

Objective • The Shakti entrepreneur program creates livelihood opportunities for underprivileged rural women. • The Shakti Vani program works to improve the quality of life in rural India, by spreading awareness of best practices in health and hygiene. • They are also studying the consumption habits of the rural people.

Shakti Vani

• An initiative which helps Project Shakti is the Shakti Vani programme. Under this programme, trained communicators visit schools and village congregations to drive messages on sanitation, good hygiene practices and women empowerment. This serves as a rural communication vehicle and helps the SA in their sales.

• In 2001, the company embarked on an ambitious programme, Shakti. Through Shakti, HUL is creating micro-enterprise opportunities for rural women, thereby improving their livelihood and the standard of living in rural communities. Shakti also includes health and hygiene education through the Shakti Vani Programme, and creating access to relevant information through the iShakti community portal. The program now covers 15 states in India and has over 31,000 women entrepreneurs in its fold, reaching out to 100,000 villages and directly reaching to 150 million rural consumers.

Communicate Searching for a

medium

and

Achieving

Interaction

Shakti Vani • Social communication anchored on brands • health and hygiene • women’s empowerment

• Village women are recruited as Vanis and trained to communicate • Vani audience: key opinion leaders, schools, SHG meetings, other village gatherings • Specially designed communication material • easy-to-carry kit: flip-charts, leave-behind posters, banners • content developed after in-depth understanding of local context

Hand-wash demo in schools

Shakti Activities

Free Health Camps in Shakti Village

Free Dental Camps in Shakti Villages

i - Shakti • In 2004, we started “i-Shakti” an IT-enabled community portal across the state of Andhra Pradesh. i-Shakti is designed to give rural people access to information via a network of village “kiosks” containing internet linked computers run by entrepreneurs. • Villagers can access free content, developed in their local language, or email questions on a wide range of topics, including Unilever products, health and hygiene, agriculture, education, finance and employment. • The aim is to have 1 500 i-Shakti kiosks on stream by the end of 2005 covering 7500 villages and 10m people.

iShakti Contd…… • Rural community portal that creates access to information • Villagers can as s and surf content areas: • Agriculture, health, veterinary services, education, employment opportunities, education, personal grooming, entertainment, games

• All content backed by local language voice-over • On all content areas, s can pose queries • 1,000 kiosks in AP, partnership with government

Vision 2010 100,000

500,000

600 million

Entrepreneurs

villages

Consumers

Shakti shall reach every home in every village, create sustainable livelihood opportunities, and enhance the quality of life in rural India