Innovative Food Technologies to Motivate Small Entrepreneurs

Abstract

The importance of entrepreneurial resource as a critical input in the process of economic development has now been widely recognized by scholars and policy makers. The new entrepreneurs coming from non-traditional groups, there by breaking the monopoly of dominant business castes and communities and diversifying the entrepreneurial resource base of a country. In order to accelerate the formulation of such new enterprises, imaginative programmes and policies backed up by sound institutional support, are called for to identify, motivate and strengthen the new breed of entrepreneurs. The main objective of the present study was to stimulate entrepreneurial traits of the selected mothers to supply new supplementary foods to the selected centres of ICDS, as an income generation activity for their families. Alternative foods for supplementary feeding in ICDS to the preschool children were developed in the Department of Food and Nutrition Sciences, SPMVV, Tirupati and they were standardized and acceptability tests were conducted in Anganwadi centres (AWCs). Mothers attending to the Anganwadi centres were motivated to become entrepreneurs and potential women from these centres were selected to train on entrepreneurship development involving food technology skill development. The identified potential women were oriented to become entrepreneurs. The women were asked to gather at AWC during the afternoon session when they were free to attend the focus group discussion on economic status and its impact on improvement of nutritional and health status. Demonstration of alternate food recipes based on local food habits, were given to them and trained to enable them to start a small enterprise to supply supplementary foods to their Anganwadi centres. The results of the study showed that the women identified that the selling the product will help them to improve their economic status consequently improving their nutritional and health status and also they identified the solution to overcome the problems which they are facing in getting the supplementary food centrally supplied to ICDS centres. At this stage they want financial assistance to start their business, they were also made to understand to spend the money from their savings in income generation programme for the preparation of supplementary foods as it is a small scale business which needs small investment. This is still on ongoing process through DBT project titled “Facilitating Micro Entrepreneurship involving Innovative Food Technologies amongst SHG Women in Rayalaseema”.