MEET OUR ARTISANS

ROPE & SOCIAL IMPACT

ROPE has sustainable social impact for rural workers and the environment.

Currently in India, ROPE provides work to over 500 people (95% women). These artisans have seen their average annualized income increase from US$270 to US$720 after working with ROPE. Increased incomes lead to increased savings and investments for the future such as housing, health and children’s education. Apart from financial security, belonging to a larger network of producers / employess and also the sense of catering to global customers increases pride in their work. Furthermore, by allowing people to work close to their villages, they can avoid migration to cities and life in the slums and instead stay close to their families and social networks in rural areas.

Poverty in general, and specifically in rural areas, negatively affects all aspects of life, most notably health and education. Poverty is the single largest reason for the migration of rural poor to urban centers, where they often end up in slums with a decreased quality of life. Rural artisans toil long hours and often earn less than a dollar a day. Their work is inconsistent and they are under constant pressure from middlemen and employers to reduce their wages. These difficulties often cause rural workers to neglect their family's health and education which contributes to a cycle of poverty. In a country like India where the economic divide between urban and rural poor is widening, it is imperative to create quality jobs in manufacturing / production for rural workers. By providing work to the rural poor, one allows them to improve their general quality of life and their family's health and education.

ROPE's products are eco-friendly. ROPE's materials are naturally and sustainably grown in rural areas where the artisans live. ROPE uses natural indigenous renewable plants to derive many of its materials. Furthermore, many of ROPE's materials come from agricultural waste bi-products, such as banana rope which is made from the banana tree trunk which is normally discarded after the bananas are harvested.

THE ROPE MODEL

The hub and spoke model of ROPE focus on employing local populations enhancing or leveraging their skills at the same time ensuring scalability and adherence to excellence in quality in and social compliance. ROPE organizes clusters of production units with central hubs for aggregation and monitoring. Systems for production management, product quality and delivery are implemented at the individual production unit and hub levels. The hubs aggregate the output and deliver to global buyers.

To make the ROPE model possible, ROPE uses best management practices and innovative technology. With our success, ROPE offers a very powerful product to its customers: customers can purchase fashionable, environment friendly products of contemporary designs while making a social impact. That is, adding substance to style.