Amazon India begins its entrepreneurial training program for tribals in Gujarat

Back in January, Amazon India signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Gujarat Tribal Development Department (TDD) to educate, train and enable tribal entrepreneurs to directly sell their products online to Amazon customers in India and across the globe. Marking the first step in the direction, the e-tailer conducted its first regional workshop yesterday, in the Narmada to drive digital literacy among tribal entrepreneurs.

The first workshop, attended by about 40 tribal artisans was aimed at educating and helping these entrepreneurs understand the nuances of online selling and be a part of and benefit from India's booming digital economy.

"Our biggest challenge was to find a platform that could help us market these unique tribal products and make it available for a wide customer base. We were looking for a partner that could provide on-ground support and guidance to give visibility to these products and really make a difference to these gifted artisans & craftsmen and take advantage of the growing digital economy. And Amazon came forward with all their support to make this happen," Ravishankar, Commissioner of Tribal Development, Gujarat said in a statement.

15 percent of the total population of Gujarat is tribal and consists of over 5000 artisans from across 14 districts. Through the workshop, these artisans were trained on how to sell products online and fetch a reasonable price for their unique products.

“Our aim is to train, market, sell and deliver these unique tribal products and drive disruptive change and transform the lives of these entrepreneurs across the state”. According to him, this association with will definitely provide impetus to the overall ecosystem of the state and boost the tribal community economy of Gujarat," said Gopal Pillai, Director & GM, Seller Services, Amazon India.

The product portfolio by these tribal entrepreneurs includes unique tribal products such as Bamboo Crafts, Warli Painting, Pithora Painting, Bhada Painting, Clay Craft, Minor Forest Produces like Honey, Musli, Tamarind, herbal medicines, embroidery items, tribal food items which enjoy huge popularity and demand in urban areas.