SEWA Cooperative Federation is a federation of women’s cooperatives across diverse forms of informal work. These sectors reflect the realities of women’s labour—often undervalued, fragmented, and shaped by local conditions—but organised through collective enterprise.
Working across multiple sectors allows the Federation to learn how cooperatives function in different economic and social contexts, while remaining rooted in shared principles of ownership, democratic decision-making, and mutual support.
Today, the Federation works with women’s collective enterprises across the following sectors:
Women farmers and producers engaged in cultivation, allied activities, and agri-based enterprises, often navigating climate variability, input access, and market uncertainty.
Women-led dairy cooperatives involved in milk production and related activities, balancing daily enterprise operations with collective management and leadership.
Artisan cooperatives engaged in traditional and contemporary crafts, where collective organisation supports production, quality control, and access to markets.
Women working in service-based cooperatives such as cleaning, childcare, and home-based services, organising work that is often informal and invisibilised.
Women workers in labour-intensive sectors, including construction and other forms of manual work, where cooperatives create collective identity and bargaining power.
Women’s financial cooperatives that support savings, credit access, and financial decision-making, strengthening economic security at the household and collective level.
Together, these sectors reflect the breadth of women’s work within the informal economy and the role of cooperatives in creating shared ownership, stability, and voice across different forms of labour.
