The Coffee Board of India, in partnership with the National Livelihood Mission – Karnataka initiated a project to empower about one lakh women members of National Livelihood Mission Self-Help Groups (SHGs) across Karnataka on coffee brewing techniques and rural cafe management. This is mainly aimed to facilitate the establishment of Rural and Urban Cafés, dedicated to offering an authentic filter coffee experience.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) of this project was signed by  Dr K G Jagadeesha IAS, CEO & Secretary, Coffee Board and P I Sreevidya IAS, Mission Director of National Livelihood Mission on 17^th January, 2025.

This project marks a revolutionary step in creating a domino effect in the field of women entrepreneurship. The Coffee Board, in collaboration with subject matter experts and in-house specialists, will work along with the Atal Incubation Center of Coffee Board (AIC-CCRI-CED), the implementing and monitoring partner, to ensure impactful outcomes.

This milestone project is the first step in our long-term plan to promote coffee across the state opined Dr K G Jagadeesha  IAS , CEO & Secretary of Coffee Board  and P I Sreevidya  IAS,Mission Director of National Livelihood Mission said “Women being trained on other entrepreneurship skills under NLM imparting livelihood support, this coffee micro entrepreneurial project will provide a new window of opportunities to women empowerment.

The project is being implemented in two phases. Initially 400 women identified by NLM will be trained to become master trainers at the Coffee Board's Head Office in Bangalore, who  in the second phase  will subsequently upskill other womens at Taluk and Hobli level. The NLM is engaging the consulting expertise of the Coffee Board of India to facilitate the effective execution of the Training of Trainers (ToT) program and oversee the initial batches of field-level training sessions. The AIC-CCRI-CED, serving as the implementing partner, has committed to delivering the project through hands-on training programs and café management workshops. The initiative aims to establish 2,500 coffee kiosks and train one lakh women from self-help groups (SHGs) to become successful coffee entrepreneurs.

Aligning with the 2024-25 state budget, The Karnataka government has allocated ₹25 crore to train 1 lakh women from NLM SHGs as coffee entrepreneurs, this initiative empowers women-led enterprises, enhancing skills, productivity, and market competitiveness to drive economic growth and sustainability. By supporting potential and existing entrepreneurs, it promotes gender equality, reduces poverty, and fosters opportunities for marginalized women.

Sri Shrinivasalu R, KSAS Chief financial officer, Sanjeevini KSRLPS, Sri Arjun Odeyar, KAS, Additional Mission Director, NLM, Smt. Ragavi Vinod Nayak, KAS Project Officer, National Urban Livelihood Mission, Dr. I M Mandappa, Divisional Head, CQD, Coffee Board, Dr. Ramya M, SMS, CQD Coffee Board and  Sri. Praveen H J, CEO, AIC-CCRI-CED were present during the MoU signing event.

 

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