Skip to content Skip to navigation

GIZ report showing impact of Covid-19 on women-led businesses

By AT News |

The Covid-19 crisis in India has posed severe challenges to small and growing businesses in the country, widening the pre-existing gender gaps and diminishing considerable developments achieved within the women entrepreneurship ecosystem in the past decades.

In a bid to shed light on the unique and disproportionate impact of the pandemic on women-led businesses, GIZ has recently come out with a detailed report. The report titled “Women Entrepreneurs’ Resilience in Times of Covid-19” was based on GIZ’s Project Her&Now.  The Her&Now project is implemented by GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit) on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and  the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), Government of India.

The findings of the report will be based on a study conducted in December 2020. The data will be collated based on interviews of 211 women entrepreneurs operating across a diverse field of sectors.

Speaking about the report, Project Head Ullas Marar says says, “Given that the pandemic is far from being over and there are high possibilities we may have to tackle a third wave and subsequent waves in the near future, it has become imperative to understand the ways in which women-led enterprises (as well as the women entrepreneurs themselves) responded to the pandemic when it began, because we believe a lot of lessons and learnings lie there."

"Keeping that in mind, we have prepared, and are now glad to release the report -- “Women Entrepreneurs’ Resilience in Times of Covid-19” – which we believe will be of great help for the key stakeholders in deriving best practices, learnings and opportunities for the wider ecosystem of women entrepreneurship in India", he added.

The report comprises three main sections: 

Impact of Covid-19 on women entrepreneurs: This section reveals that for most of the women entrepreneurs, their customer demand was being most affected in the aftermath of the pandemic, followed by issues relating to working capital and operational processes. Several entrepreneurs also struggled with accessing the marketplace, retaining employees and receiving supplies in time. A smaller share of the respondents experienced negative impacts relating to inventory.

Responsive measures by women entrepreneurs: This section highlights the key measures that women entrepreneurs took to counter operational disruptions, such as: efforts to market digitally, diversifying distribution channels, adjusting the product/service offering, re-adapting operations or revising the financial model, investing in business development, optimizing the supply chain, revising the pricing strategies, among others. By using either a few or most of these measures, many among the interviewed entrepreneurs were able to turn the Covid-19 induced challenges within their business environment into opportunities, reveals the report.

Conclusion: This section contains six important conclusions that can be drawn from the findings of the report and attempts to outline the optimal way forward for the women’s entrepreneurship ecosystem in India. 

Add new comment

Random Stories

Youth slips from train, dies

9 Aug 2014 - 1:47pm | Jintul Talukdar
Yet another incident sends shockwaves in Barpeta district where a youth died after he slipped from a moving train on Saturday. The incident took place when the youth was travelling on the North East...

NDFB(R) cadres join NDFB(P)

9 Aug 2014 - 10:00pm | Hantigiri Narzary
Expressing displeasure over Ranjan Daimary,founder chairman of NDFB, over hundred cadres from NDFB(Ranjan Daimary faction) joined the NDFB (Progressive) lack of clear objectives from Daimary on the...

APL expansion to start on Friday

20 Sep 2017 - 8:08am | Akshaya Pranab Kalita
Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal will lay the foundation stone of the APL Expansion project in Namrup on Friday. Disclosing this at a press meet on Tuesday, APL managing director...

Crack in NDFB: Ranjan Daimary to continue as chairman

28 Dec 2008 - 4:11pm | editor
There is report of vertical split in the National Democratic Front of Bodoland. The chairman of the Bodo rebel outfit DR Nabla has claimed that he will lead the outfit despite the earlier order...

Other Contents by Author

ULFA, 7 other outfits call general strike

Ulfa hardliners' faction, along with 10 other militant outfits from the northeast, has announced general strike on Republic Day. These outfits have also called for a boycott of Republic Day in the region. In a joint statement to assamtimes, Arunodoy 'Asom' said that they have asked people to abstain from trade and travel on January 26 till dusk. Two two banned outfits of the poll-bound state of Tripura - the National Liberation Front of Twipra (NLFT) and the Tripura People's Democratic Front (TPDF) - have also joined hands with the Ulfa’s anti-talk faction in the boycott along with the anti-talks NDFB faction and Corcom. The e-mail statement also slammed the government for encouraging...

Massive protest over fake encounter in Tinsukia

Massive protest hits in Tinsukia district over allegations of fake encounter where security forces claimed to have killed a youth. Local residents of Duwamara in the district spilled to the streets demanding probe into the killing of innocdent youth Lalit Moran who was killed in the name of encounter.Local residents told assamtimes that Lalita Moran has no link with ULFA. With banners and festooned the local residents demanded action against the security forces who shot dead the innocent youth in the name of encounter with ULFA. On other hand, ULFA publicity secretary Arunodoi Asom in a statement to asamtimes said that the innocent youth had no link with the outfit. Citing the Armed Forces...

Me-Dam-Me-Phi at Delhi on January 27

Association of Tai Ahoms (ATA), NCR is observing Me-Dam-Me-Phi to show respect to the departed ancestors and remember their contribution to society on January 27 at the Community Centre, DLF Phase I, Gurgaon. On this occasion, offerings will be made by Bailungs followed by a cultural presentation and games for children. The event will culminate with a traditional Assamese lunch. To commemorate the occasion, a magazine, “Pulin Puthao” will be released.A committee to observe the event and to undertake other socio-cultural activities in the coming years has already been formed and the Committee is in the process of registering the Association with the relevant authorities and a formal...

IED recovered in Kakopothar

In another incident, police recovered two Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) from the kitchen garden of a house in Hahakati area under Kakopothar police station in Tinsukia district. The IEDs were buried in the garden.  Police said the IEDs, each weighing around five kg, were recovered following a tip-off. The owner of the house, Biswajit Moran, has been picked up for questioning.

Youth killed in Tinsukia firing

Security forces claimed to have killed an ULFA militant in Tinsukia district  on Saturday. Identified as Lalit Moran, the local youth was suspected to be a militant belonging to the anti-talk faction during a joint operation launched by the Army and police in Duwarmara jungle. Army and police had launched the operation after getting intelligence input regarding the presence of a group of armed men in the area.  But a section of local resident alleged it a fake encounter where the innocent youth was killed.

BJP blast Congress on rural fund

Once again BJP brings serious charges against Congress. Te opposition party on Saturday accused the ruling party of siphoning off huge amount of money allotted for development projects under the 'panchayati raj' system during the past 11 years. State BJP President Sarbananda Sonowal claimed that the Panchayati raj system is for the rural development, it has not happened during the last 11 years of Congress regime as the ruling party indulged in mismanagement and corruption instead of undertaking projects,

Book release at JNU

A Book titled “Understanding Schopenhauer through the prism of Indian Culture” was formally released by Honorable Minister for DoNER Paban Singh Ghatowar at Jawaharlal Nehru University on January 18. The book was edited by Arati Barua, Matthias Kossler and M. Gerhard. On the occasion of 10 years completion of Indian division of Schopenhauer Society that the book release was organized by IDSS in collaboration with the Special Center for Sanskrit Studies of JNU.Dr Arati Barua, the director of the Indian Schopenhauer Society expressed her feelings about the whole event as a moment of great fulfillment and a privilege for her to welcome all the participants to celebrate the 10th anniversary of...

Call for write-ups for Agri-Horticultural Souvenir

To commemorate the Mega Agri-Horticultural Show-2013 to be held at the playground of College of Veterinary Science, AAU, Khanapara, Guwahati, Assam from 20-24 February 2013, it is planning to publish a souvenir . The Show will be organized by the, Department of Agriculture, Assam in association with Assam Horticultural Society.In this context, interested persons may send write-up on agricultural and horticultural subjects, both in English and Assamese to ; Mowsam Hazarika, Editor, Souvenir, Mega Agri-Horticultural Show-2013, Information Cell, Directorate of Horticulture and Food Processing, Assam, Khanapara, Guwahati-22, Assam, email – mowsam2000@yahoo.co.in on or before 10th February, 2013...

Aaranyak expresses deep concern at the continued rhino poaching

Aaranyak has expressed its deep concern at the continued poaching of rhinos in different parts of Assam. In first two weeks of the new year already rhinos are poached in Kaziranga, Orang and Manas NP. A rhino carcass was detected on Sunday evening in Bansbari range of Manas National Park with bullet marks and horn being stolen. This was a translocated male rhino which was earlier translocated into Manas from Pabitora WLS under Indian Rhino Vision 2020. This was the third translocated rhinos poached in Manas NP in past two years. Aaranyak urges the government to take stern action against erring forest staffs if found guilty of negligence of duty to strengthen regular...

NFAI restores 9th Assamese film Runumi

As the country celebrates 100 years of Indian cinema,, here’s a good news from Assam. The National Film Archives of India (NFAI) has digitally restored an Assamese film made in 1952, whose only print was missing for over 40 years till it was recovered in a village in Assam in March 2010.The film, “Runumi”, written and directed by noted writer-Sattriya dance exponent, the late Suresh Chandra Goswami, has undergone digital audio and video restoration after a painstaking process of manual cleaning at the Restoration Laboratory. NFAI, which spent around Rs 6.5 lakh in the restoration work, as also done the English subtitling of the film, and has sent a master DVD to Goswami’s grandson, National...