Trickle Up’s Asia program targets very poor people in India and Nepal who have no access to other financial services.  Typically, these populations comprise women, people with disabilities, the most disadvantaged tribes and castes, HIV/AIDS-affected families and squatters and pavement dwellers. 

Through the Trickle Up field office in Kolkata, India, the Asia program identifies small, grassroots organizations that link Trickle Up’s microenterprise program with other poverty-alleviation programs that provide health care, education and microfinance. 

Cooperation among Trickle Up and its local partner agencies has helped thousands of Asian participants to access business and vocational training and to learn how to create and participate in savings groups. 

Fruit vendors, bakers, candle makers, paan-shop owners, furniture makers, artisans and people who do electrical repairs are among the many who benefit from Trickle Up’s approach. The rich array of businesses demonstrates the creativity of our participants.

Partner Highlights

Through the Human Rights Organization of Bhutan in Nepal, Trickle Up provides financial support and training to Bhutanese people with disabilities living in refugee camps.  Trickle Up also serves displaced Bhutanese families in northern India.  Launching or expanding a business gives these refugees a chance to settle into their new communities and to regain confidence in their economic future.

In West Bengal, India, Trickle Up is pioneering a new project with funding and support from the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), an arm of the World Bank.  With a local partner organization, Trickle Up will provide business and vocational training, seed capital grants, and one-on-one staff support to 300 participants. Entrepreneurs will make regular deposits to savings groups.  After about two years, these participants will be eligible to graduate to a microcredit program to further expand their microenterprises.
 

Results

Reports from Fiscal Year 2006 show that in Asia:
Trickle Up has helped to start or launch 55,917 businesses since 1979, of which 2,736 were launched or expanded in 2006.

• 51 percent of participants are women
• 34 percent of participants are under 27 years old
• 98 percent of participants considered their Trickle Up business their primary source of income
  
  

Our Partner Agencies

India
ADHAR
Akhil Gramin Yuva Vikas Samiti
Adarsha Social and Health Service Association
Baikunthapur Sishu Seva Kendra
Forum of Communities United in Service
Gram Swarajya Sansthan
Gramin Jan Kalyan Samity
Human Development Centre
Indranarayanpur Nazrul Smriti Sangha
Jamgoria Sevabrata
Jan Vikas Kendra
Lohardaga Gram Swarajya Sansthan
Lokadustri
Narichetana Mahila Institute
Prakhand Gram Swarajya Sabha
Self-Employed Workers' Association Kendra
Tiljala Society for Human and Education Development

Nepal
Community for the Promotion of Public Awareness and Development Studies
Human Rights Organization of Bhutan