MLP Resources
How to Use this Web Portal
Web Portal from Madhubalan Viswanathan on Vimeo.
Online Books
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Viswanathan, Madhu, Bottom-Up Enterprise: Insights from Subsistence Marketplaces (2016), eBook More information can be found here. |
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Viswanathan, Madhu, Subsistence Marketplaces (2013), eBook More information can be found here. |
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Hedeman, John, Viswanathan, Madhu, Hanlon, Tom, and Venugopal, Srinivas. Voices from Subsistence Marketplaces. (2017). |
Courses
We offer several types of educational experiences, from year-long courses to international immersion trips and free online courses. Learn more here.
Videos about the courses and immersion experiences
Visit this page to find videos about (and by) students participating in the immersion experiences and other SMI projects.
Sample itinerary for Indian immersion experience
Materials
Assignments
Assignments related to interviews, ecology videos, Day in the Life videos, and analyses of readings and book chapters can be found here.
Projects
Instructions for group projects and case analyses can be found here.
Presentation: Case Study in Bottom-Up Design
Presentation: Additional Project Sample Details
Shakti Rising
Shakti Rising is a movie that evolved out of conversations between Madura Microfinance, a non banking finance company operating across Tamil Nadu, India, that provides small loans to 400,000 rural women along with products that expand market access, and Usha Rajeswari, a documentary filmmaker.
The movie, edited for educational purposes, can be accessed here:
Shakti Rising (52 min)
Shakti Rising (1 hr 24 min)
Day in the Life in Subsistence
A series of “Day in the Life” videos produced by the Subsistence Marketplaces Initiative can be accessed here:
- A Day in the Life of a Rural Shopkeeper in South India
- A Day in the Life of an Urban Shopkeeper in South India
- A Day in the Life of a Rural Homemaker in South India
- A Day in the Life of an Urban Homemaker in South India
- Environmental Issues in a Village in South India
- Environmental Issues in a Low-Income Urban Area in South India
- A Visit to Tribal Communities in Tanzania
- Field Research in Rural India
- Field Research in Urban India
- A Day in the Life of an Artisan (Short) – Argentina
- A Day in the Life of an Artisan (Long) – Argentina
- A Day in the Life of a Refugee Entrepreneur (Short) – Uganda
- A Day in the Life of a Refugee Entrepreneur (Long) – Uganda
- A Day in the Life of a Family in a Refugee Settlement – Uganda
Immersion Exercises for Understanding Subsistence Marketplaces and Designing Solutions
The exercises can be accessed here:
- Understanding Needs
- Virtual Immersion
- Immersion – Sanitation
- Immersion – Africa
- Immersion – South America
- Immersion – China
- Idea Generation – Cooking
- Idea Generation – Education and Schooling
- Idea Generation – Healthcare
- Idea Generation – Livelihood and Enterprises
- Idea Generation – Local Environment
- Idea Generation – Technology
- Idea Generation – Transportation
- Idea Generation – Water and Food
- Idea Generation – Water
- Idea Generation – Plowing
- Idea Generation – Housing
- Idea Generation – Technology Solutions
Subsistence Interviews
Short Interviews
Subsistence Entrepreneur and Consumer
Long Interviews
| Country | Subsistence Consumer | Subsistence Entrepreneur | NGO |
| India | Jamuna | Mythili | Health Manorama |
| Janaki | Natarajan | ||
| Sumitra | Velamma | ||
| Tanzania | Maria | Kathy | Kent-Environment |
| Peter – Tribal Leader | |||
| Argentina | Beth-Doctor |
Enterprise Plans, Presentations, and Instructional Resources
| Projects | Date | Enterprise Plans | Presentations | Instructional Resources |
| ActivEdge (Nutrition) | 2008 | Open | Open | |
| AgICT (agriculture) | 2017 | Open | ||
| Asha (Education) | 2011 | Open | Open | |
| Bala Shakthi (Education) | 2012 | Open | ||
| Box (Post-Harvest) | 2015 | Open | Open | |
| CoGrow (Post-Harvest) | 2016 | Open | Open | |
| Dhanyam Labham (Post-Harvest) | 2014 | Open | Open | |
| Genomics | 2017 | Open | ||
| Grameen (Value Chain) | 2012 | Open | Open | |
| H2O Solutions (Safe Water) | 2015 | Open | Open | |
| IPT (Prosthetics) | 2012 | Open | Open | |
| Kutoa (Sanitation) | 2012 | Open | Open | |
| Meshure (Women) | 2017 | |||
| Microsoft (Education) | 2012 | Open | Open | |
| Namascan (Health) | 2016 | Open | Open | |
| Panacea (Health) | 2017 | Open | ||
| Pyramid (Post-Harvest) | 2015 | Open | Open | |
| Rural ICT (Agriculture) | 2017 | |||
| Safe Water (SGW) | 2013 | Open | Open | |
| Sangam (IT Communication) | 2012 | Open | Demo | |
| Seamless Transition (Disaster shelter) | 2012 | Open | Open | |
| Sol (Clean Cooking) | 2015 | Open | ||
| Soy Choyce (Nutrition) | 2012 | Open | Open | |
| Sunstuff (Solar water heater) | 2009 | Open | Open | |
| Surya Sun Bucket (Clean Cooking) | 2016 | Open | Open | |
| TownSchool (Education) | 2012 | Open | Open | |
| Vision Spring (Eye Care) | 2012 | Open | Open | |
| Vita Jeevan (Nutrition) | 2012 | Open | Open | |
| Waterfish (Safe Water) | 2016 | Open | Open | |
| Wazi (Safe Water) | 2015 | Open | Open |
Using Frameworks to Refine Business Plans
The fillable pdf above provides a convenient way for students to map different framework-elements introduced in lessons to the specificities of their own projects.
The fillable pdf above provides a convenient way for students to develop different parts of the business plan.
Poverty Simulation
This is an online game designed to simulate what life is like for a woman living in poverty in India. Players guide the main character through the course of a week and make choices in response to events as they unfold.
Voices from Subsistence
Voices From Subsistence was created with the idea of bringing out the lives and stories of those we’ve met while working in various parts of the world.