Co-operatives: Our Strength chronicles the first decade of SEWA Cooperative Federation’s journey in building women-led cooperatives as vehicles for economic self-reliance, collective leadership, and social transformation. Established in 1992 as the first federation of its kind, the Federation brought together women working across diverse trades including dairy, handicrafts, agriculture, services, credit, and land-based livelihoods, creating a shared platform for growth and mutual support.
The report documents how women from the informal economy strengthened their enterprises through training, market access, design support, research, financial services, and institution building. It highlights the emergence of 96 cooperatives across multiple sectors, demonstrating how collective ownership enabled women to increase incomes, gain access to markets and resources, and participate in decision-making processes previously beyond their reach.
More than a record of organisational achievements, the publication captures SEWA’s vision of cooperatives as democratic institutions rooted in solidarity and self-reliance. It reflects on lessons from the Federation’s first ten years while laying out an ambitious roadmap for expanding women’s economic leadership and strengthening the cooperative movement in the years ahead.
