Providing machinery to the terracotta artisans…
Another capacity building initiative by SETU…

Crafts like terracotta pottery have been taken for granted since ages. Not only the process is full of drudgery, but the net income of artisans is very low. Due to the fragile nature of terracotta and voluminous designs, the sale is limited to local markets only. SETU has upgraded these crafts to international standards and are providing sustainable livelihood to many artisan groups involved in terracotta pottery. This has been made possible by capacity building & infrastructural upgradation, design & skill development, market readiness training, etc.

One of our talented artisan groups is based near Bagru district, Rajasthan and is engaged in making sustainable terracotta pottery. However, despite all the hard work, they had to struggle a lot to manage sustainable livelihood.

The process of making terracotta pottery is labor intensive and requires a lot of manual slog. At first, the clay is grounded and sieved by hands and then the powdered clay is mixed thoroughly by hands and legs. The resulting mixture is then used to make beautiful artefacts like pots, vessels and sculptures using a potters’ wheel. Despite all the hard work of preparing the clay dough, many times small stones & undesired impurities inherently remain in the mixture. After being cured in the furnace, these result in a lot of rejections in the final products. SETU team realized the gravity of the matter and decided to sponsor some machinery that could be used for grinding and mixing of clay….The main motive was to reduce manual drudgery, improve quality and increase productivity.

The machines have been installed at the group and artisans are very happy with the results. The products are now being completed in lesser time duration compared to earlier, with fewer rejections & wastage….Artisans can now focus more on new product developments and increasing marketability.. 🙂