KTM Post
Merchants of Change
26 November 2011

An award ceremony of its first kind—held for the recognition of social entrepreneurs last week—heralded a new chapter in the history of social entrepreneurship in Nepal. Amidst corporate houses, media persons and students and professors of the social sciences, five enterprises were congratulated and given cash prizes for their noble endeavours. This was a worthy event and one not often brought to the public eye. The need to applaud Nepal’s real heroes - social entrepreneurs, who often fill in the void left by the state, the development sector and the corporate sector-was being rightfully realised.

The term ‘social entrepreneurship’ was coined by William Drayton, founder of Ashoka—the world’s first organisation to promote social entrepreneurship. Although Drayton’s Ashoka is just 25 years old, the concept of social entrepreneurship is centuries old and one will find prominent examples such as Florence Nightingale, who founded the first nursing school and developed modern nursing practices, to look up to. The inspiration spread to developing countries who found souls as Mohammad Yunus who demonstrates the key traits of the social entrepreneur: a deep understanding of the market, its developmental needs and the will to cater to them through trade. The five winners at the award ceremony showed much promise in these traits along with their passion to implement projects that directly confront social needs. Some examples include trekking agencies whose funds are channeled for local education, local milk factories to protect farmers from across-the-border competition, hosiery industries to sustain women’s livelihood and cooperative models for microfinance and farming programmes. Coming from regions outside of the Valley, they are all survivors of the most strenuous socio-economic conditions, yet heroes who provide a livelihood to others.

Most social entrepreneurs in Nepal are destiny-bound to become who they are; driven by their own needs most of the time. You will find that the hidden heroes that propel the unseen economies of our nation are first victims of their own circumstances—of violence, poverty and illiteracy, and that their enterprising spirits became the saving grace to help  extricate themselves from such rut. While social entrepreneurship is an established profession in the developed world, where many individuals gain an elevated status upon becoming successful, not many in Nepal, with the exception of a few individuals, have the sheen and glamour of recognition and not many harbour dreams to pursue the field either. The eyes of the elite would glaze over the mundane scenes of a knitting home or a humble factory of little handicrafts and earnest social entrepreneurs wouldn’t blow their trumpets about their change-making enterprises either. Thus initiatives such as the award ceremony, that bridge the gap between these two sections of society are indeed necessary for channelling wealth from a place of its concentration to a place in need. Social entrepreneurs never start big nor do they seek public glory but their innovation, however small, leave a lasting impact on society. They are the real agents of change, and they need all the support that can be garnered.

Posted on: 2011-11-27 08:28