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. 

Author info

AT News's picture

Assam Times Staff. editor@assamtimes.org
  • 15446 reads

Add new comment

Other Contents by Author

Uneasy calm atop Karbi Hills

An eerie silence is prevailing in Karbi Anglong and West Karbi Anglong districts following the death of two people belonging to different communities amid growing demand to evict the non tribals from the hills districts on Tuesday. Mobile internet has been suspended and the authority has imposed some restrictions on public gatherings to ensure peace and tranquility in the tribal dominated hills districts. Security forces are patrolling on the streets in the vulnerable areas to avert any untoward incident. But the tribal leaders and their followers have blamed it all on the government for allowing the non tribals to settle there which is contrary to the laid down rules. " We are...

Two Killed, Dozens Injured as Violence Erupts in West Karbi Anglong Over Land Eviction Demands

Tension gripped West Karbi Anglong district for a second consecutive day on Tuesday as clashes between protesters and security forces in Kheroni area left two people dead and over 45 injured, including 38 police personnel. The deceased have been identified as a differently-abled youth from the Karbi community, who succumbed during police action to disperse agitators, and another individual who died in arson attacks on shops in Kheroni market. Reports indicate the violence involved stone-pelting, use of crude bombs, arrows, and bows by mobs, prompting police to resort to lathi-charge, tear gas, and blank firing. The unrest stems from long-standing demands by Karbi organisations for the...

Flames of Frustration: Why Karbi Anglong's Eviction Crisis Exploded into Violence

The hills of West Karbi Anglong district in Assam witnessed a dramatic eruption of violence this week, underscoring deep frustrations over land rights and perceived governmental inconsistency. On December 22, 2025, protesters demanding the eviction of alleged encroachers from protected tribal grazing reserves torched the ancestral home of Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC) Chief Executive Member Tuliram Ronghang in Dongkamukam and set fire to several shops in Kheroni Bazaar. The next day, despite prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), clashes between opposing groups led to stone-pelting, injuring several people, including protesters,...

Sangeeta Barooah Pisharoty Becomes First Woman President of Press Club of India

New Delhi: Senior journalist Sangeeta Barooah Pisharoty has created history by becoming the first woman to be elected President of the Press Club of India (PCI), marking a significant milestone in the institution’s long-standing legacy. Her election is being widely hailed as a landmark moment for gender representation and leadership in Indian journalism. A respected name in the profession, Pisharoty is known for her incisive reporting, editorial leadership and long-standing commitment to press freedom, ethical journalism and the welfare of media professionals. Over the years, she has earned wide credibility for her work on politics, governance and social issues. The Press Club of...

People’s Declaration for a Resilient Brahmaputra Basin Adopted at People’s Consultation in Jorhat

A two-day ‘People’s Consultation on Strengthening Humanitarian Response and Climate Resilience in the Brahmaputra Basin’ concluded today at Hotel Clubway Grand, Jorhat, with the adoption of the People’s Declaration for a Resilient Brahmaputra Basin. The event was organised by the North-East Affected Area Development Society (NEADS) in collaboration with the Inter Agency Group (IAG) of Assam and various local humanitarian civil society actors from across the Brahmaputra valley, with support from Start Network. The consultation brought together humanitarian practitioners, climate workers, community leaders, civil society organisations, youth groups and women’s collectives to deliberate on...

9th Chalachitram National Film Festival Concludes in Guwahati

Guwahati: Curtains came down on the 9th Chalachitram National Film Festival at the Jyoti Chitraban premises in Kahilipara on 30 November 2025, as distinguished guests at the closing ceremony handed over awards, certificates, and cash prizes to the winning filmmakers in the presence of eminent film personalities, emerging director-producers and cine-goers. Organized by Chalachitram, a subsidiary of Vishwa Samvad Kendra-Assam, the two-day CNFF-25 showcased over 30 short features and documentaries across competitive and screening categories. ‘Koli’, directed by Jyotirmoy Mazumder, was adjudged the best short feature in the Northeast India category, while ‘Joba’, directed by Indira Baikerikar,...

NEHU Hosts IIC Regional Meet 2025; Over 500 Attend Innovation Summit

The North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU) on Friday hosted the IIC Regional Meet 2025, drawing more than 500 participants from higher educational institutions across the Northeast. The day-long programme, organised under the Ministry of Education’s Innovation Cell (MIC) and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), was held at the Multi-Convention Hall on the NEHU campus. The event commenced with the traditional lighting of the lamp, followed by an introductory address by Prof. Dinesh Bhatia, SPOC of the Regional Meet. Prof. G. Bez, Chairperson of the Meet, delivered the welcome speech, while Prof. I. Hussain, Dean of the School of Technology, NEHU, offered brief remarks....

Tirtha Prasad Saikia Elected to Executive Body of IUCN India National Committee

Guwahati: Tirtha Prasad Saikia, Director of the North-East Affected Area Development Society (NEADS) — a local organization and an Indigenous Peoples’ Organization member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) based in Assam — has been elected to the Executive Body of the India National Committee (INC) of IUCN, representing the North-East India region. NEADS works at the intersection of humanitarian response, resilience building, climate action and environmental sustainability, adopting a nexus approach to address the human dimensions of environmental crises arising from both natural and human-induced disasters. The organization emphasizes community well-being...

PLF Awards Conferred at Pragjyotishpur Literature Festival 2025

Guwahati: The Pragjyotishpur Literature Festival (PLF) 2025 concluded this evening at Srimanta Sankardeva Kalakshetra, wrapping up three days of rich literary discussions, cultural insights, and powerful storytelling. Organized by the Sankardeva Education and Research Foundation, the festival began on 14 November with acclaimed author Shefali Baidya delivering the keynote address. On the final day, the organizers announced the recipients of this year’s prestigious PLF awards. Eminent researcher and author Moneswar Deori was named the recipient of the PLF 2025 Award, while promising young writer Srotashwini Tamuli, a researcher at Birangana Sati Sadhani State University, was declared the...

NEADS Assam Brings Voices of Flood-Affected Communities to Global Climate Summit at COP-30

As the world gathers in Belém, Brazil, for the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP-30), the North-East Affected Area Development Society (NEADS) from Assam has stepped onto the global stage to ensure the voices of the region’s flood-affected and climate-vulnerable communities are heard. Representing NEADS as an Observer of the Start Network, Tirtha Prasad Saikia, the organisation’s Director, said the participation marks a crucial moment for the North-East, one of India’s most climate-sensitive regions. “We are here because climate change is not a distant issue for us — it’s our everyday reality,” said Saikia. “Assam’s communities have been battling floods, erosion,...