About us
Shivia was founded in 2008 and is a UK registered charity working in India.
We work in rural West Bengal, one of India’s poorest and most populous states.
We give families living in rural villages near Kolkata the tools and training to start an enterprise from home so that they can earn money.
We empower the people in most need, and particularly women, to work their own way out of poverty and provide a brighter future for their children.
We run three programmes based on enterprise and not just aid:
- Poultry Development Services: helping families earn an income from raising chickens
- Agri-Management Services: helping families earn money from agriculture
- Goateries: helping families earn an income from goat farming
We have our own organisation based on the ground in West Bengal to implement these programmes – Shivia India, known locally as Nirdhan.
The focus for each of our programmes is expert training. We believe this is key to the success of our programmes and helps deliver the impact we are striving for.