Empowering Women in Rural Communities

Integral to India’s rural workforce, women have a key role to play in various on farm and off-farm activities. Reliance Foundation’s Rural Transformation programme is centred around the role of women in enhancing resilience and raising household incomes through diversification through its DRIWE and information services initiatives.

By leveraging the collective power of self-help groups, Reliance Foundation supports women in agriculture and encourages alternative livelihoods through skill and capacity development. Women are supported in establishing businesses, building brands and developing leadership capacity. The aim is to pave their participation in society and local governance and give them a greater say in the development of their communities.

Reliance Foundation has worked with self-help groups in value chains of crops, dairy, arts and handicrafts.

In 2023, the Reliance Foundation and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation launched an initiative to empower one million women entrepreneurs in several states in India, by strengthening women collectives, testing and scaling innovations and establishing replicable models of entrepreneurship with women-led enterprises. This initiative has been developed with and will be delivered through partnerships with the State Rural Livelihood Missions, as well as with the support of several implementation partners. Over the next three years, this initiative will support and engage women in farm and non-farm income-generating activities, to help them achieve an annual income of at least Rs. 1 lakh as envisioned by the Government Of India’s Ministry of Rural Development.