case studies undp: swazi indigenous products, swaziland
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7/27/2019 Case Studies UNDP: SWAZI INDIGENOUS PRODUCTS, Swaziland
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Equator Initiative Case StudiesLocal sustainable development solutions for people, nature, and resilient communities
Swaziland
SWAZI INDIGENOUSPRODUCTS
Empowered live
Resilient nation
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UNDP EQUATOR INITIATIVE CASE STUDY SERIES
Local and indigenous communities across the world are advancing innovative sustainable development solutions that wo
or people and or nature. Few publications or case studies tell the ull story o how such initiatives evolve, the breadth
their impacts, or how they change over time. Fewer still have undertaken to tell these stories with community practition
themselves guiding the narrative.
To mark its 10-year anniversary, the Equator Initiative aims to ll this gap. The ollowing case study is one in a growing ser
that details the work o Equator Prize winners – vetted and peer-reviewed best practices in community-based environmenconservation and sustainable livelihoods. These cases are intended to inspire the policy dialogue needed to take local succ
to scale, to improve the global knowledge base on local environment and development solutions, and to serve as models
replication. Case studies are best viewed and understood with reerence to ‘The Power o Local Action: Lessons rom 10 Years
the Equator Prize’, a compendium o lessons learned and policy guidance that draws rom the case material.
Click on the map to visit the Equator Initiative’s searchable case study database.
EditorsEditor-in-Chie: Joseph CorcoranManaging Editor: Oliver Hughes
Contributing Editors: Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Erin Lewis, Whitney Wilding
Contributing WritersEdayatu Abieodun Lamptey, Erin Atwell, Jonathan Clay, Joseph Corcoran, Sean Cox, Larissa Currado, David Godrey, Sarah Gordon,
Oliver Hughes, Wen-Juan Jiang, Sonal Kanabar, Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Rachael Lader, Erin Lewis, Jona Liebl, Mengning Ma
Mary McGraw, Brandon Payne, Juliana Quaresma, Peter Schecter, Martin Sommerschuh, Whitney Wilding
DesignSean Cox, Oliver Hughes, Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Amy Korngiebel, Kimberly Koserowski, Erin Lewis, John Mulqueen,
Lorena de la Parra, Brandon Payne, Mariajosé Satizábal G.
AcknowledgementsThe Equator Initiative acknowledges with gratitude Swazi Indigenous Products, and in particular the guidance and inputs o Sind
Mamba and John Pearce. All photo credits courtesy o Swazi Indigenous Products. Maps courtesy o CIA World Factbook and Wikiped
Suggested CitationUnited Nations Development Programme. 2013. Swazi Indigenous Products, Swaziland . Equator Initiative Case Study Series. New York,
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PROJECT SUMMARYSwazi Indigenous Products is a member-owned naturalseed oil enterprise that provides jobs and income to ruralwomen, while protecting the ecosystems o the Lubomboregion o Swaziland. Women are supported to sustainablycultivate and collect wild marula, trichilia, and ximeniaseeds. The initiative also runs a tree-planting program andoers environmental education training or its over 2,400seed collectors.
The seeds collected by members are processed to produceseed oils, which are then used in the production o skin
care products. To capture a greater share o the marketsupply-chain, the group created its own line o skincareproducts, Swazi Secrets. The enterprise has paid out morethan USD 396,000 to its members over the last seven years.Additional incomes rom seed collection have helped tooset healthcare and education costs, and improved thestatus o women in decision-making processes.
KEY FACTS
EQUATOR PRIZE WINNER: 2012
FOUNDED: 2004
LOCATION: Lubombo, eastern Swaziland
BENEFICIARIES: 2,400 members - mainly rural women
BIODIVERSITY: Native tree species
3
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Background and Context 4
Key Activities and Innovations 6
Biodiversity Impacts 8
Socioeconomic Impacts 8
Sustainability 10
Replication 11
Partners 11
SWAZI INDIGENOUS PRODUCTSSwaziland
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wazi Indigenous Products (SIP) is a member-owned naturaleed oil enterprise that was ounded in 2004 with the intention
developing a reliable source o income or rural women while
imultaneously protecting native trees in the Lubombo region o
astern Swaziland. The enterprise supports local women in the
ustainable harvesting o wild marula, trichilia and ximenia tree
eeds, which are processed and their oils extracted at the initiative’s
actory in Mpaka. The oils are used to produce the Swazi Secrets
ne o natural and ethically-produced skincare products, which are
marketed in Arica and around the world. In addition to providing
ob opportunities and income to the cooperative’s 2,400 members,
IP provides training in environmental conservation, natural
esource management and organic production to its harvesters.
hese trainings are complemented by activities to conserve andestore local ecosystems.
Development challenges in Swaziland
waziland is an economically poor country, with 70 per cent o the
opulation living below the poverty line. The Lubombo district –
which takes its name rom the at-topped mountains which orm
waziland’s eastern border with Mozambique – is no exception. Few
velihood options exist, with the majority o communities working
n subsistence industries. Swaziland’s economic development has
een urther hampered by its markedly high rates o HIV/AIDS
nection. The country, in act, has the highest inection rate in the
world – over one quarter o adults, and over hal o adults between
he age o 20 and 30, are inected. The epidemic compounds the
hallenges aced by Swazi women, who are granted low legal and
ocial status in what remains a highly traditional, extremely male-
ominated, and oten polygamous society. Women are seen as
econd class citizens, enjoying ew rights and playing very little part
n community or household decision-making. Married women are
iewed as minors in the eyes o the law, and their low social status
n embedded at every level o society. Lack o access to education
or women and girls urther perpetuates their social and economic
marginalization.
Ecology, climate and land use in Lubombo
The lowveld region o Lubombo is a semi-arid, rural landsc
It includes the districts o Dvokodvweni, Hlane, Mpolon
Siphoaneni, Sithobela and part o Tikhuba (Sibovini). The bush
savannah ecosystem oers a wealth o natural resources
go largely untapped by local communities. Subsistence arm
and livestock rearing constitute the main livelihoods o the
population. Commercial activities are virtually non-existen
the region, with the exception o some sugar plantations. In
particular region, land is allocated through hereditary te
arrangements. According to customary laws, land use and reso
access are determined by a traditional chie’s council or commi
Typically, single houses with one to two hectares o elds
scattered throughout the region, interspersed with comm
grazing land and woodland characteristic o the bushveld ecosys
namely indigenous orests and grass and thorn savannah. The re
experiences low and erratic levels o rainall which makes crop y
unreliable. Combined with a lack o nancial resources, this
resulted in virtually no use o synthetic ertilizers or pesticides,
many elds have been let allow or long periods o time. As a re
the region is ideally suited or the organic harvesting and cultiv
o oil seeds.
Marula trees – the cornerstone o local livelihoods The marula tree (Sclerocarya birrea) is native to southern Arica
is abundant in the Lubombo region o Swaziland. Known comm
as “the king o Arican trees”, marula has long been valued o
healing properties. The ruit o the tree is used to brew homem
beer (buganu). Oil rom its seeds has traditionally been use
minimize stretch marks during pregnancy. The ruit o the m
alls to the ground in the month o February, where it is colle
by rural women who rely on it as a source o income. Increasi
however, the marula and other native trees have been under th
due to deorestation, overgrazing, and overharvesting. Seve
Background and Context
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ight per cent o households in Lubombo are dependent on wood
s a cooking uel. Although local communities have traditionally
ollected rewood and orest products rom communal land, this
ractice has not changed to take into account a rapidly growing
opulation. As a result, anthropogenic pressure on local natural
esources – the marula tree included – has become unsustainable.
The genesis and evolution o Swazi Indigenous Products
Women are overwhelmingly the main harvesters o marula ruit. It
onstitutes a primary source o income, traditionally coming rom
he brewing and sale o homemade beer (buganu). The harvesting
nd collection o ruit was widely seen as below the status o men.
he architects o what would become Swazi Indigenous Products
ecognized that having this sector as the exclusive domain o
women represented an opportunity to both raise the earning power
what was an economically isolated and marginalized segment o
he population and to create a platorm or women’s empowerment.
pecically, SIP saw the opportunity to develop a market or marula
eed kernels, which could be easily harvested rom local trees with
elling them or causing any signicant damage to the ecosystem.
he initiative began in 2004 with a easibility study that was unded
y the WK Kellogg Foundation. Having identied a clear need and
market niche, SIP was ormed as a not-or-prot company. The group
uickly established operations, harvesting, processing and trading
ulk marula oil. By 2008, the company had generated more than
USD 170,000 in sales.
he global recession, however, made bulk oil sales increasingly
nprotable. To exacerbate matters, SIP had become exclusively
eliant on a single buyer. As a result, sales plummeted by 60 per cent.
he company was aced with a decision – change the model or go
ut o business. SIP responded by branching into the development
a brand o cosmetic products called Swazi Secrets, manuacturedntirely by the company based on local harvesting. This ambitious
move required a redoubling o marketing eorts, but allowed
he company to use value-adding secondary processing to bring
ew benet streams to local producers. The enterprise – and the
alculated risk o diversiying rom bulk oil to cosmetic products –
as been a wholesale success. The Swazi Secrets range o products
an now be purchased in 31 countries across ve continents. The
nterprise provides employment or supplemental income or 2,400
ural Swazi women. Swazi Secrets products have been commended
y a number o health and beauty magazines, and, in 2006,
hytotrade Arica presented SIP with the Ubuntu Natural Award or
utstanding achievement in the eld o Fair Trade natural products.
he organization successully combines the creation o
quitable market supply chains or locally harvested oil seeds
with environmental conservation and tree-planting campaigns.
conomic development and environmental responsibility receive
qual attention in the SIP mandate. SIP has also developed a
obust series o training programs in the organic cultivation and
ustainable harvesting o marula. Two guiding principles o the
ompany are “ownership by and income generation or rural Swazi
women” and “[compliance with] the highest standards o air trade
and environmental sustainability”. The company has gone to g
lengths to ensure organizational growth and improvemen
product standards. SIP has actively sought out external veric
and evaluation o its procedures, including in the area o org
production, harvesting volumes, and progress towards air t
certication. In 2010, SIP was granted membership o the Unio
Ethical Biotrade (UEBT) and achieved an exceptionally high sco
78.5 per cent when audited against UEBT’s Standard, which incl
social, business and environmental management criteria.
Governance and institutional structure
The initiative operates through a network o member groups,
consisting o 15 to 20 harvesters. In 2009, ull ownership o SIP
transerred to its suppliers through their member groups, with
harvester paying a ZAR 10 (approximately USD 1.10) membe
ee in exchange or a non-transerable share in the company.
model entitles suppliers to a share in SIP prots and the right to
the Board o Directors at the Annual General Meeting. There are
members on the Board o Directors – ve community representa
(who must be involved in the SIP supply chain) and our proess
representatives chosen or their business expertise.
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lastic waste. Suppliers receive training in organic kernel harvesting,
ncluding identiying suitable areas or collection. Organic harvesting
must take place in elds that have been lying allow or a number
years, which have been treated only with organic ertilizers, or
n areas o the bush where no chemicals have been used. Organic
ernels must be labelled appropriately and stored in rooms that
ave not been sprayed with pesticides or malaria control.
Sel-help groups and local ownership
An additional initiative o SIP has been to catalyse sel-help groups
within the local communities, with membership drawn in part rom
IP suppliers. To date, over 40 such groups have been established,
nd they have helped several hundred women invest their income
in individual or collaborative business ventures, with the assist
o savings and loan schemes.
An innovative aspect o SIP’s operations is its emphasis on combi
the governance o the enterprise with training opportunities o
members. Collective ownership o the company by its membe
a radical step in rural Swaziland. Many o the company’s labora
workers and administrative sta previously worked as ma
harvesters and have benetted rom training and capacity build The majority o board members on the Board o Directors
community representatives, while the remaining our slots
reserved or proessional representatives, whose role incl
providingcoaching, guidance and assistance to the commu
representatives.
“Everyone needs to learn how to make the world more environmentally friendly because w
depend on nature for our health, our jobs, the air we breathe and the water we drink…so let
work together as one to help nature. It can’t fight for itself.”
Ms. Sindile Mamba, Member Services Manager, Swazi Indigenous Products
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Impacts
BIODIVERSITY IMPACTS
The marula tree is a locally valued species; so much so, in act, that
t has historically been protected by customary restrictions on
harvesting, which are enorced by local chies. Other trees endemic
o the areas, however, have not been subject to the same degree o
protection, so have aced growing pressure due to overharvesting,
deorestation and land degradation. By increasing the economic
value o the marula tree – and by bringing other native tree species
uch as ximenia and trichilia into the Swazi Secrets value chain –
wazi Indigenous Products has done a great deal to ensure their
protection. The added income generated through the sale o seed
kernels has served to enhance the enorcement o traditionalprotection mechanisms.
Based on the number, location and productivity o local trees, SIP
has calculated that the seeds used or its marula oil production
epresent roughly ten per cent o the seeds produced in its harvesting
reas, and just one per cent o the seeds produced annually in the
owveld areas o Swaziland, representing a very low impact on the
ontinued natural propagation o marula trees in the region. Despite
his, SIP strives to go beyond a “do no harm” approach to address
environmental concerns that do not result rom its own activities.
The company, as part o its compliance with UEBT criteria, has
drated a work plan outlining a series o activities to counteract localenvironmental threats. Member groups are required to carry out
onservation activities in proportion to the size o their harvesting
ites. These eorts have been complemented by a tree planting
programme – with over 1,500 native trees planted by 2012 – and
wareness-raising campaigns to educate the local population on
he importance o planting and properly maintaining these trees to
ensure a continued supply o marula seeds. Member groups share
esponsibility or nurturing planted trees, or example by erecting
barriers to protect young trees rom grazing livestock. Monitoring
plots are being established where marula trees will be studied in
dierent environments to give urther insights into actors
promote or hinder their growth.
The group’s environmental education initiatives ensure
the impacts rom harvesting remain minimal. Its members
provided with training in organic harvesting, processing, and
regeneration. Suppliers receive a premium on the kernels
sell to SIP, which provides an incentive or more collectors to
organic methods. SIP also educates its members on the dange
over-grazing, soil erosion and invasive alien species. The com
is currently planning a livelihoods diversication project tha
engage livestock owners on issues pertaining to recent chang
livestock policy or communal grazing areas, undertaken to rethe impact on native vegetation.
SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACTS
By empowering women, SIP has proound impacts not only o
members’ lives, but on the wider community. Women are ce
agents o change in key development issues in rural Swazi
including ood security, HIV/AIDS, poverty reduction and democ
governance. By empowering rural women to earn a sustain
income and operate their own enterprise, SIP is delivering mu
development dividends. Women in rural Swaziland ace s
and legal barriers which are urther compounded by the counastronomical HIV/AIDS rate. Swaziland is a male-dominated so
and women’s empowerment initiatives are desperately nee
Ninety-eight per cent o SIP members are women and the com
has provided them with a voice, nancial security and s
legitimacy.
Individual and collective empowerment
The company has provided a once economically marginalized g
o women with much higher incomes, a degree o nancial auton
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and a greater role in resource governance and decision-making. The
opportunity to engage in training and capacity building, and to
ake on positions o responsibility within the company, has enabled
members to raise their status within their respective communities.
As a result, members have reported that their sel-condence
and sel-esteem have risen. Another dimension o empowerment
esulting rom the initiative has been the strength women members
have gained rom collectively orming an association. Local women
have reported that meetings o suppliers and member groups haveo some degree replaced the conversations that women used to
have at the river while etching water or washing clothes, providing
opportunities to exchange advice and support. By uniting women,
he SIP enterprise has given them a stronger negotiating position
within their communities and households.
Higher incomes, savings and loan services
Since its establishment in 2004, SIP has paid out ZAR 3.7 million (or
USD 420,000) to rural Swazi women. Women are paid directly or
he marula seed kernels they harvest. Over 2,400 women benet
rom this supply-chain, and while the amount o income varies
rom woman to woman, members report a signicantly positivechange in their quality o lie. Married women have reported
hat their decision-making power over household spending has
mproved since they began earning independent income, and their
dependence on their husbands has lessened as they no longer need
o ask or money to purchase basic household provisions. A 2010
tudy o SIP members ound that 95 per cent o women reported
a greater sense o sel sufciency as a result o their involvement
with the company. Further, several women also reported that they
had progressed rom being net borrowers within their communities
o being net lenders, with neighbours now approaching them or
nancial assistance, signiying a meaningul shit in social status.
SIP also assists its members to strategically invest the income they
generate. Working through sel-help groups, SIP has provided
avings and loan schemes to support several hundred women to
nvest their income in small-scale enterprises (both individual and
collaborative), urther increasing their earning power and nancial
ecurity.
Health, education and ood security benefts
Higher incomes have translated into improvements in community
health and education. A 2010 study ound that participation in SIP
activities contributed to improved nutrition, children’s education
and access to health care or participating women and their amilies.
Food was cited as the main item purchased with income rom
activities, while school ees were named as the second most req
use o this income. In a region where over a third o the popula
lives in extreme poverty and hunger, and only the rst three yea
primary education are provided ree o charge, SIP income is ha
a proound impact on community wellbeing.
Many SIP suppliers are grandmothers struggling to provid
grandchildren whose parents have allen at the hands o the epidemic. A signicant proportion o SIP members are themse
inected with the virus. Importantly, the gathering and crac
o marula ruit to procure the kernels is not overly taxing and
be carried out by those experiencing diminished energy leve
a result o inection. A number o respondents to the 2010 s
reported eeling better equipped to deend themselves against
AIDS as a result o their involvement in the enterprise. Access t
independent source o income puts women in a better pos
to negotiate condom use, thereby protecting them rom
inection. Nutrition is also an important aspect o compliance
antiretroviral (ARV) treatment to avoid AIDS. Seventy-ve per
o respondents credited SIP income with improving their am
nutrition.
Capacity building and training
The training and governance opportunities that SIP provides
members are building the skills and capacity o local women. Tra
in organic harvesting and production allow harvesters to maxi
their income while reducing the impact o their activities on
environment. More importantly, the involvement o harvesters i
governance o the company paves the way or harvesters (us
the poorest members o their communities) to progress tow
better paid economic activities. Indeed, many SIP employees in
laboratory and administrative teams initially worked in the
kernel supply chain as harvesters, eventually working their wa
through the skills training and capacity building that SIP prov
SIP has ought to retain the entire length o its supply-chain w
the community to ensure that harvesters have the opportuni
progress to positions at higher levels within the enterprise. As
one example o its commitment to community ownership
the economic mobility o its members, SIP successully reject
proposal orm a private enterprise looking to undertake extrac
o marula kernels mechanically in a actory, thereby removing
community benet stream.
9
“The conservation of biodiversity is central to sustainable development, human wellbeing and
poverty eradication. Having a healthy ecosystem helps biodiversity to flourish. Biodiversity an
ecosystem health are the cornerstones of our business.”
Ms. Sindile Mamba, Member Services Manager, Swazi Indigenous Products
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Sustainability and Replication
SUSTAINABILITYIP is playing a pioneering role in the development o value-added
roducts in rural Swaziland. In addition to providing sustainable
ources o income and employment to local people, the company
ntends to aect a shit away rom the all-too-common natural
esource supply-chain model in Arica whereby local producers
rovide industries with raw materials and see nothing o the benet
treams resulting rom value-added secondary processing.
he enterprise remains dependent on the nancial support o
artner organizations; however, with sel-generated income
urrently at over 50 per cent o total expenditures and growing, SIPs moving steadily towards nancial independence. The long term
ustainability o the enterprise is promising based on the growing
emand and new markets or Swazi Secrets products, the company’s
roven ability to adapt its operations to suit economic conditions,
nd the central ocus on building local ownership and capacity by
raining its members to assume leading governance roles within the
rganization.
he Swazi Secrets range is now marketed in 31 countries across ve
ontinents, with new sales opportunities constantly being pursued.
his diversity o markets and buyers provides a degree o security
o SIP, which learned the risks o being contracted exclusively to a
ingle buyer when its sales ell 60 per cent during the 2008 economicecession. The enterprise displayed adaptability and resilience in
ts response to this recession, by diversiying rom the sale o pure
marula oil to the development o the Swazi Secrets range o marula
nd other seed oil-based products. The enterprise continues to sell
marula oil in bulk, however, and recent years have seen a resurgence
n these sales. Coupled with rising Swazi Secrets sales, total annual
ales in 2012 were a record ZAR 1.87m (USD 220,000).
Institutional sustainability
This capacity-building aspect o the enterprise’s operations is
central to its sustainability, as it ensures community ownership o
support or the initiative, while gradually reducing the depend
o the company on outside support. In 2009, SIP handed
complete ownership o the company to its suppliers, through
member groups. In this respect, community buy-in and owne
are quite literally the case, as harvesters pay a membership e
join SIP, and are entitled to a share in the company’s prots and i
into the running o the enterprise.
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1111
IP places a great deal o emphasis on training and capacity
uilding, in the hopes that its harvesters, oten the poorest members
their communities, will advance to better-paid positions within
he company. The majority o SIP ull-time employees previously
worked as kernel suppliers. This advancement has been enabled
hrough a range o training and capacity building activities, as
well as through the involvement o harvesters in all levels o the
nterprise’s governance. Association members elect the Board
Directors at the Annual General Meeting, and also have thepportunity to serve as ofce holders within Member Groups or to
rain as Organic Representatives in their own communities, where
hey promote organic harvesting methods and ensure compliance
with organic certication standards. SIP also supports local women’s
el-help groups which assist SIP members in investing their income
nd developing small-scale businesses. The sel-help groups provide
he women with savings and loan services.
n 2012, or the rst time, a community representative Board member
ssumed the position o chairperson. The woman in question
as been an active organiser or the enterprise in one o its main
upply areas since its early days, demonstrating the commitment
nd upward mobility encouraged by organisation that underpins its
ocial sustainability.
REPLICATION
he number o women collecting marula kernels or SIP has grown
teadily since the company was ounded. Since 2007, a portion o
IP oil production has been certied as organic, and harvesters
omplying with organic harvesting practices sell their kernels at a
remium o twelve per cent. The percentage o SIP’s 2,400 suppliers
hat choose to use organic methods is increasing each year.
eyond its own communities, SIP shares its knowledge andxperience by hosting visits to its acility and through membership
n trade organizations. SIP has hosted visits to its actory and monthly
uying meetings or a range o interested NGOs, public and private
ctors, including women’s producer groups rom Mozambique and
wa Zulu Natal, South Arica. The single criterion or groups hosted
y SIP is that their primary purpose be to genuinely support the
mpowerment and advancement o rural women. As a member
Phytotrade Arica, the trade association o the natural products
ndustry in Southern Arica, SIP has played a pioneering role as a best
ractice in local enterprise development. SIP also presents the Swazi
ecrets range at trade airs around the world.
PARTNERShe WK Kellogg Foundation has supported the marula project since
began in 2004, initially by unding a easibility study. In 2006, the
oundation granted USD 390,000 to SIP to continue the initiative,
while a 2009 grant, also o USD 390,000, unded the handover o
wnership o the company to its members. The most recent grant
USD 100,000 in 2010 was provided as bridging support to assist
he company in its move towards sel-sufciency. UNDP has also
rovided nancial support or the development and marketing o
he Swazi Secrets brand.
Other major partners include SIP distributors, donors
trade organizations, with which SIP endeavours to build l
term relationships. SIP is a ull member o the World Fair T
Organization (WFTO) and the Swaziland International Fair T
Association (SWIFT), and works with both to maintain a ocu
air trade within grassroots producer organizations. The suppo
the Shared Interest Foundation, a UK-based ethical investmen
operative, has been critical to the work o SWIFT, acilitating busi
skills training or more than 130 handicrat businesses in SwaziSIP has been a member o Phytotrade Arica since its inception
has a representative on the organization’s board.
The enterprise chooses distributors who value the comp
approach, and considers its distributors as partners. GAFPRO (G
Arican Products) distributes Swazi Secrets to 45 stores – ma
air trade and natural products outlets – throughout Germany,
has helped SIP reduce the price o Swazi Secrets products on
European market by holding a central European stock in Stutt
rom which it supplies the rest o the European Union. This
reduced shipping costs and customs clearance and curre
transaction ees, resulting in an average reduction o six per
in the shel price o Swazi Secrets products in Europe. In 2012
Fair Trade organisation Contigo became SIP’s second major Ger
retailer, with Swazi Secrets now being sold in all o their 18 outl
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FURTHER REFERENCE
Swazi Secrets website: swazisecrets.com
Swazi Indigenous Products Equator Initiative prole page:
equatorinitiative.org/index.php?option=com_winners&view=winner_detail&id=148&Itemid=683
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