Shivia

Our aim is to empower very poor families to create enterprises, boost income and inspire permanent and positive change. We fundraise in the UK and, through our sister organisation Shivia India (Nirdhan), we operate our Livelihood Development Programme in West Bengal, one of the poorest states in India.

www.shivia.com/ Fundraise for us

info@shivia.com

Registered charity no. 1126444

Member since July 2016

Latest News

Shivia Newsletter

You can read our latest newsletter (published in December 2018) on our website. Please click here: https://shivia.com/winter-newsletter

Shivia wins International Charity Award

The 18^th Annual Charity Times Awards were hosted in London on Wednesday 4^th October and we were delighted that, for the third year running, Shivia was shortlisted for an award.

From a large pool of nominated charities in the International Charity category, we were shortlisted alongside three other charities - AfriKids, Interpal and Media Legal Defence Initiative.

It was an honour to be considered for this award by the panel of 12 independent judges and when we arrived for the ceremony at the Park Plaza Westminster hotel we already felt like winners. So it came as a genuine but very welcome shock to be announced the overall winner, as you can see by the reaction from our team here.

About us

Shivia was founded in 2008 and is a UK registered charity working in India.

We work in rural West Bengal, one of India’s poorest and most populous states.

We give families living in rural villages near Kolkata the tools and training to start an enterprise from home so that they can earn money.

We empower the people in most need, and particularly women, to work their own way out of poverty and provide a brighter future for their children.

We run three programmes based on enterprise and not just aid:

Poultry Development Services: helping families earn an income from raising chickens Agri-Management Services: helping families earn money from agriculture Goateries: helping families earn an income from goat farming

We have our own organisation based on the ground in West Bengal to implement these programmes – Shivia India, known locally as Nirdhan.

The focus for each of our programmes is expert training. We believe this is key to the success of our programmes and helps deliver the impact we are striving for.

Poultry Development Services (PDS) is our ‘flagship’ programme, launched in 2011. It provides the tools and training (the ‘toolkit‘) for families living in poverty to start a small enterprise from home by raising chickens and selling the produce.

In rural West Bengal the burden of poverty often falls hardest on women and their children. Women may be excluded from opportunities to earn money due to cultural prejudices, poor education and lack of job prospects and so have little say in household spending decisions. PDS is aimed at women as it allows them to work from home and earn money whilst also caring for the family.

WHY CHICKENS?

We chose poultry farming for a number of reasons: firstly, very little land is needed to raise chickens and there is a large market demand for the produce (meat and eggs) as everyone eats chickens and eggs whether Hindu, Muslim or Christian. The enterprise is low risk with low start-up costs and can provide a regular income over an extended period. Finally there is no wastage as any unsold produce can be consumed by the family, introducing an important source of protein into the diet.

WHAT IS THE IMPACT OF PDS?

Our impact assessments and feedback from our beneficiaries have revealed the many benefits of the programme:

up to 30% increase in household income from the sale of eggs and mature chickens.
women become empowered by the ability to earn money for themselves.
women invariably use their earnings for the benefit of the whole family.
children benefit from better access to education as there is money to pay for school uniform and books.
families have a healthier diet – chicken and eggs are a great source of protein.
more money is available to pay for basic household expenses, reducing the need to rely on unscrupulous money lenders.
the skills learned and profits earned can be used to start a new enterprise.

For more information about PDS and our other programmes, please visit us at www.shivia.com