Palladium Empowers Rural India: Sustainable Skilling and Livelihoods

1. Palladium is playing a significant role in empowering thousands of rural entrepreneurs and farmers to strengthen rural livelihoods. Can you elaborate on the company's vision for creating long term sustainable livelihoods for those living in rural India? 

Thank you for this opportunity to engage with SMEStreet and share my insights. Palladium, as a global leader in impact consulting and implementation, has a deep-rooted commitment to driving sustainable economic growth. For over 60 years, we’ve spearheaded more than 200 economic growth programs across 40+ countries. As we mark two decades in India, we recognize the untapped potential within rural communities—especially smallholder farmers, women, and nano entrepreneurs—to be the engines of inclusive growth.

Our focus is on creating market systems that are sustainable, scalable and replicable. We work hand-in-hand with government bodies, the private sector, international donors and civil society to design solutions that uplift livelihoods today and build long-term resilience for tomorrow. By harnessing innovative financing, technology, and capacity-building strategies, we ensure rural communities are equipped to thrive in an ever-changing economic landscape.

A key element of our approach is developing cross-leveraged ecosystem models. Solutions crafted for one sector—whether it’s agriculture, health, or education—are adaptable and scalable across others. This holistic approach creates a multiplier effect, impacting millions and fostering inclusive, sustainable development. At Palladium, we’re committed to empowering rural communities to become the custodians of sustainable development in India’s growth story.

2. MSMEs are the backbone of our country yet they face significant challenges. What do you see as the most pressing challenges faced by them and how Palladium resolves them? 

The biggest challenge as perceived by many in the MSME space is access to credit—but the real challenge goes much deeper. Most programs make the mistake of treating Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises as a homogenous group, when in fact, their needs are vastly different. Even within the micro category, there’s a world of difference between a business with INR 5 crore in annual revenue and a small tailoring shop or grocery store with just INR 10-20 lakh. Applying the same solution to entire space is a recipe for failure.

When we implement any scaled program focused on the MSME sector, we dive into each business’s journey, assess their stage of growth, understand their value chains and unique challenges, and tailor solutions accordingly—whether it’s formalization, market access, or strategic credit linkages. When it comes to credit, we work with businesses to leverage the existing available resources by aligning to the right government schemes and innovative credit products that minimize barriers like collateral and credit history. More importantly, we focus on shifting entrepreneurial mindsets—helping businesses plan for loan repayment and long-term sustainability. As the challenges that MSMEs face are multifaceted, they are looking for someone who can provide a one stop solution and that’s why as Palladium, we offer comprehensive, tailored solutions so that businesses can focus on one thing - scaling their growth.  

3. How do you collaborate with government bodies, training institutions, and other stakeholders to implement effective skilling programs? 

Palladium’s approach to projects revolves around driving collaborations to effectively and sustainability create impact. We collaborate with government bodies, training institutions, and other stakeholders through a market systems development approach. Rather than promoting livelihood options solely based on the background or existing skills of individuals, we first conduct in-depth market analysis to identify existing gaps and opportunities and then partner with market players to create a network and ecosystem that can be leveraged by entrepreneurs independently without any intervention from us or the government.  This ensures that the businesses or skills developed are aligned with real market needs, making them sustainable in the long run.

We work closely with governments and donors to design programs that align with national and state priorities, ensuring that our interventions complement larger developmental goals. Our partnership with training institutions is key in ensuring that the right skilling programs are delivered, tailored to the specific needs identified through our market studies. We also engage with other stakeholders, including industry leaders and community organizations, to ensure the programs we implement are relevant, demand-driven, and scalable.

By fostering these collaborations, Palladium not only addresses immediate employment and income generation but also lays the groundwork for long-term, systemic change in livelihoods. This ensures that the individuals and communities we work with can continue to thrive and adapt to evolving market dynamics. 

4. Can you share examples of successful skilling and entrepreneurship development initiatives Palladium has led or been part of in rural areas? 

Palladium is a pioneer in delivering large-scale skilling and entrepreneurship development programs in India and globally. One of our standout initiatives is the Maharashtra Agri Skilling Program (MASP), where we trained and certified over 2.8 lakh farmers in group farming practices across 23 districts. This program, under the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) scheme, was even recognized by the Asia Book of Records for assessing the largest number of farmers in a single day. 

We are also the lead implementation partner for Swakalpa, a program in collaboration with Odisha Skill Development Authority, where we’re helping 10,000 youth and women gain entrepreneurship skills. We’re mentoring over 1,000 businesses, with 70% led by women, to help them establish and grow their enterprises. We’re active across all 30 districts of Odisha, supporting entrepreneurs from disadvantaged groups, including transgenders, SC, ST, and those from aspirational districts. We have been able to increase the monthly revenues by more than 20%, the entrepreneurs have employed 300+ personnel in their businesses, thus generating additional income, and we have been able to promote tech enabled services including 40-45% of entrepreneurs switching to digital payments. 

Beyond this, we’re working with 600 Farmer Producer Organizations in Odisha, Maharashtra, and Gujarat through the Government of India’s CBBO program, as well as a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation initiative focused on strengthening FPOs. We’re also partnering with the Government of Odisha on the PMFME scheme to boost micro food processing enterprises and with the Government of Maharashtra to skill construction workers under the RPL program.

5. What are the major barriers you’ve encountered when implementing skilling programs, and how has Palladium adapted to overcome these challenges? 

The biggest challenge in implementing skilling programs isn’t delivering training—it’s getting people to participate, especially women in rural areas. This gap exists because of limited awareness, outdated preferences for degree programs, and content that doesn’t seem relevant to real-life needs. But we don’t let these barriers define our outcomes. Our Theory of Change workshops, conducted at the outset of every project, go beyond just identifying the problem and intended outcomes. This allows us to pinpoint these challenges from the start and build solutions that ensure active participation and long-term success.

Secondly, many skilling programs are driven by numbers—how many people are trained, certified, and placed in jobs. But post the end of the program, often, individuals are left with no one to guide them and hence, leave their jobs or are unable to sustain the employment they’ve gained. This is where the real challenge lies.  At Palladium, we believe success isn’t just about hitting numbers—it’s about how deeply we change lives. We approach skilling with a long-term view, ensuring that individuals don’t just acquire a certificate or job placement, but gain the skills, confidence, and resources to build a sustainable livelihood, in addition to being mentored in their jobs. This means going beyond technical training and focusing on holistic development, offering business advisory, mentorship, and access to a network that continues to support them after the program ends.

For example, in the Maharashtra Agri Skilling Program, we didn’t stop at skilling farmers. We provided business advisory services and helped them develop comprehensive business plans so they could successfully manage their operations and expand. In Swakalpa, we not only offered mentorship but also created a network of partnerships that enable entrepreneurs to run their businesses independently of government or implementation agencies. By focusing on long-term impact, we ensure that the individuals we train can thrive on their own, contributing meaningfully to the economy and their communities. We aim this level of impact in every program—sustainable, lasting change, not just short-term success.

6. What according to you is the path to a more resilient and future-ready workforce?

India is on a growth path in terms of livelihoods and job creation. According to the PLFS Annual Report 2022-23, our unemployment rate has decreased to 3.2% from 4.1% in the previous year, and female participation in the workforce has risen from 32% to 37%. While these numbers are encouraging, they still lag behind countries like the UK, USA, UAE, and are at par with our neighbour Bangladesh, according to the latest World Bank statistics. This highlights the urgent need to build a skills ecosystem that is not only future-ready but also market-aligned.

A resilient workforce requires practical on-the-job learning at every step, and it is emphasized by the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which promotes experiential learning from Class 6 onwards to inculcate skills at an early stage. Apart from this, sectors gaining prominence are climate adaption, environment friendly products and emerging technologies like AI/ML, robotics, drone tech, etc.  

Palladium is more than ready to support the national agenda to create future ready skilled workforce. We cross leverage learnings across our projects globally and fuse them with our local expertise. While we understand how to manage complexity and scale from successful programs in India, we also look to leverage innovative and future ready skills from projects in other parts of the world.  

Another trend that may be in focus is innovative financing in skilling and livelihoods. Palladium is a leader in implementation of innovative financing solutions across sectors and has implemented many solutions in skilling and livelihood sector. One of our flagship projects - Challenge Fund for Youth Employment – focuses on innovative financing mechanisms and merging private and public sector funds for supporting market oriented, robust and innovative ideas to create decent work prospects for youth in Africa. The Skill Impact Bond in India is a great example for innovative and results-based finance mechanism. We need to pilot and scale similar models to enable mobilisation of alternate resources for growth of the sector and Palladium with its extensive experience in the field is more than happy to take the lead with government and private players. 

Also read: Palladium Supports Odisha Women Farmers' Global Mango Export