Application of bi-directional ICT channels to increase livelihoods for artisans in rural India

Abstract

The handicraft industry is the second largest employer in rural India after agriculture, and has been the fastest-growing export growth sector since India's liberalization in 1991. Today, however, millions of artisans face a lack of infrastructure, stagnation and mis-alignment with a rapidly changing market, intense competition, decline of the natural materials on which they depend, and the lack of the information and skills needed to benefit from new market opportunities. Artisans are confronted by new challenges that include those associated with technology, communication and intellectual property. My research will focus on identifying steps in the handicraft value chain where ICT intervention can create better communication and bi-directional feedback channels between artisans and buyers. The study includes an analysis of the most common handicraft value chains today and the major needs and challenges identified by groups of artisans and retailers surveyed across four different locations in India. The study also includes interviews and perspectives of the stakeholders of the handicraft value chain.