ABSTRACT
Kolhapuri chappals are handcrafted footwear known for their traditional designs and rugged ethnic look. For a large number of artisans living in the border villages of Karnataka and Maharashtra, like Athani, Nippani, Saidapur, Miraj, Jhamkhandi and Ananthpur, this craft, which has been handed over to them through generations, is the only vocation. National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development also chose Athani for cluster development for a three year period starting 2000. ToeHold's self-help approach to cluster development is a classic case of people-centred, process-focused approach to enterprise creation, which takes into account the local community constraints while tapping into their indigenous talent and creative potential. The coordination committee was transformed into ToeHold Artisans Collaborative and was registered as a Trust in October 1998 constituting representatives of the women self-help group (SHG), Asian Centre for Entrepreneurial Initiatives and the Rotary Club. The SHG became the primary stakeholders of the collaborative group enterprise and each family behaved as a microenterprise.
