SAVE -SALIEN AREA VITALIZATION ENTERPRISE LIMITED

Agariyas spend eight months period (October - May) in the desert and face hostile environmental conditions - high temperatures, dusty winds, glare and suffer health hazards - high blood pressure, eye & skin diseases. This is further aggravated by lack of access to water, health, education and community life. After suffering the hostile natural conditions and taking all the risk associated with salt production, the producers in the end get only 1% of the final price paid by the domestic users and 8% by the industrial users. Generally, the value of the salt is less than the bag in which it is packed.

In essence agariyas suffer inhuman work environment and unfair value & supply chain. This must change.To improve the quality of life of agariyas and achieve greater productivity & profitability of salt production activity, their access must be increased to institutional credit, markets and technology, replacing the present system of credit linked market services provided by the traders.

Gujarat produces 70% of the salt of the country. Salt produced in coastal and inland regions has domestic and industrial uses. About 70,000 salt producers-Agariyas (having less than 10 acres of salt pan) are engaged in salt production activity in Little Rann of Kutch (LRK In essence agariyas suffer inhuman work environment and unfair value & supply chain. This must change.To improve the quality of life of agariyas and achieve greater productivity & profitability of salt production activity, their access must be increased to institutional credit, markets and technology, replacing the present system of credit linked market services provided by the traders.
Sabras Processing and Marketing (Pvt.) Ltd. established - as a producers owned, producers controlled, professionally managed enterprise hopes to alter the situation.

About Promoters:
SAVE – Saline Area Vitalisation enterprise Ltd. is techno-marketing service organisation (TSO) set up in 1995, under Company Act 1956. The company is designed to provide enterprise development services particularly to primary producers with limited assets and located along the coast of Gujarat.

SAVE promotes its core values of - Ethical growth, just distribution and judicious use of surplus through forging Partnerships with primary producerssuch that it ensures inclusive growth. 
For SAVE, incorporation of SABRAS Processing and Marketing (Pvt.) Ltd. is a way to pursue its core vision of “mainstreaming the marginalized” in a changing economic environment. 
In this model each partner (salt producers and SAVE Ltd.) would share the risk/profits proportionately to their stakes in the venture. Agariyas with their skills and hard work would provide backward linkages while SAVE with its experience would provide access to market, credit and technology.

Ownership of SABRAS:
SABRAS incorporated on 5th February 2007, has an equity of Rs.100,000/- of which 74% is held by 28 small salt producers and 26% by SAVE Ltd.

Governance:The Board of Directors include two agariyas and one representative of SAVE Ltd.

Management :The company is managed by the experienced and qualified professionals of SAVE Ltd.

Operations of the Company :

• Procurement of salt from salt pans in LRK
• Transporting and heaping
• Processing and packaging as per order
• Delivery to the consumer companies
• Technical inputs and credit linkages for salt production

SABRAS is a different company in several ways:

• Majority equity holders produce salt in harsh sub- human conditions in Little Rann of Kutch.
• The raw material producers and suppliers for the company are the marginalized agariyas who also hold majority equity in the company.
• Through the company the agariyas have moved one step forward in the value chain i.e. in addition to producing salt they have been exposed to aspects like market, its demands, quality control, pricing of the product, sales & distribution etc.
• Two marginalized agariyas are members of board of Directors of the company.

Performance highlights over three years:

Perfomance of 2006-7 2007-8 2008-9 No of Agariyas -  (shareholders) 28 28 28 No of Agariyas - (salt procured from) 28 28 39 Quanity of salt procured in Tons 1,880 9,000 10,300 Price increment realised by agariyas (Rs. Per Ton)  10.00 20.00 15.00 Total income of SABRAS (Rs. in Lac) 4.57 28.18 42.59 Shareholders fund (Rs. in Lac) 1.00 1.00 1.00 Total Debt (Rs. in Lac) 8.65 23.76 25.64

ABOUT USVision & Mission We at SAVE view poor as resource and not a liability. We believe that entrepreneurship of poor which needs to be promoted and strengthened to help them improve their quality of life. We perceive strength of poor in their numbers and hence proactively promote their consolidation while engaging with the market economy. We believe that the poor must have propionate share of the expanded opportunities created due to changes in the macroeconomic environment. SAVE promotes enterprises which would help them be part of the mainstream development process. We believe that poor must have access to quality technical and marketing services at a cost. We at SAVE price these services, as it is in this act that lies the self-respect and dignity of the poor and accountability of the professionals. We believe in - ethical economic growth, socially just distribution and judicious use of surplus. Organisational Structure : SAVE is organised in three units. LEAP : Livelihood and Enterprise Advancement Programme Integrated Wasteland Development Programme Salt Producers, Little Rann of Kutch- SABRAS SETU : Linking primary producers with primary consumers both at international and national level PRIME : Planning, Research, Implementation, Monitoring & Evaluation. Restoration and regeneration of Mangroves. Watershed development programme Geographical Coverage: SAVE is operating in following districts of Gujarat. • Bharuch • Vadodara • Anand • Ahmedabad • Bhavnagar • Surendranagar The Board of Directors   Mr. Chinubhai Shah Chairman   Mr. Sam Palia Former Executive Director, IDBI   Dr. Dinesh Awasthi Director, EDI – INDIA   Dr. Sukhpal Sing Prof. Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad   Ms. Daksha Shah Consultant, Friends of Women’s World Banking   Mr. Rajesh Shah Managing Director Clients: Primary producers living on coastal areas and engaged in • Agriculture • Animal husbandry  • Fisheries • Salt and charcoal making NGOs & their networks Industries and their associations Corporate organization Development support organizations Government organizations Share Holding : The Company has equity base of Rs. 14,00,000 shared among 230 shareholders. They include agriculture labourers, members of NGO community, staff of the company and individuals who subscribe to the concept of social investment development.