Webinars onWomen’s Collective Action (WCA) in

Agricultural Markets

Webinar 5: "Fair Trade for Women Producers: Role of Collective Enterprises for Market Access"

April 12, 2012, 12:00-13:30 GMT

Facilitated by

Organizations Represented Today

WIEGO

Oxfam GB

Oxfam International

Oxfam America

CARE International

Coady International

Overseas Development Institute (ODI)

Sanayee Development Organization

Women Producers and the Benefits of Collective Forms of

Enterprise

Elaine Jones, Sally Smith and Carol Wills

WIEGO

Abstract• For self-employed women producers in the global South,

organizing collectively and linking to Fair Trade markets offers potential for significant economic and social benefits.

• Producer groups of women artisans and farmers able to access markets on fair terms can gain valuable income.

The Project

• Global Trade Programme at WIEGO, in partnership with Fair Trade organizations and networks, supported local organizations of women producers who undertook the project.

• Focus: documenting, analyzing and disseminating key success factors for women in Fair Trade collectives.

• Key finding: Participating in collectives and linking to Fair Trade markets can foster significant progress in meeting economic and social goals.

Trading Our Way Up

• Provides summary of research findings

• Highlights benefits of collective enterprise

• Describes how obstacles and challenges are addressed.

• Lessons from study have practical and policy implications for international development programmes looking to support creation of SMEs as one route to women's economic empowerment.

• Complex factors of poverty, gender inequality and poor implementation of legislation limit women’s ability to benefit from trade.

• Women often occupy less profitable sectors of economy and least profitable nodes of value chains, leading to minimal economic return for their efforts (Carr and Chen 2001).

Women Informal Workers &Trade

Alternatives: Collective Enterprise & Fair Trade• Working cooperatively to

produce and market goods and to access inputs, credit, services and information, offer economies of scale, knowledge sharing and increased bargaining power. Group membership also confers social benefits for women.

• Collectives have potential too to play political role in advocating interests of members, especially when linked together in networks and alliances.

• The Fair Trade movement facilitates positive employment opportunities for working poor women producers.

Quiz• In which of the following ways does membership

in a collective benefit women informal producers?

a. By providing a venue in which to organize for social change

b. By increasing women's bargaining power

c. By serving as a space for knowledge-sharing

d. By helping to increase access to greater credit amounts

e. All of the above

…The answer is e.

• All of the above!

• When women informal producers organise into collectives, the positive impact is multidimensional.

Research Methods

Research Findings: Benefits

Success Factors Related to Group Functioning and Dynamics

• Strong leadership key - but few women come forward. Some organizations have the development of leadership potential as key aim.

• Need for clear vision and mission incorporating social goals as well as economic goals.

• For mixed groups a strong commitment to gender equality and equity at both central and community level.

Success Factors

• Sense of ownership and belonging seen to foster higher standards, resulting in improved quality and economic return.

• Commitment and regular participation by all member plus holding regular meetings, electing officers and keeping records resulting in improved production, quality control and market access.

Factors for Commercial Success

• For all collective enterprises, commercial success is essential for the broader goals to be achieved

• Market linkages – in this case Fair Trade usually via FTO’s

• Value addition, product diversification and quality control systems essential

Needs and Challenges• Needs were identified at the individual level

such as financial security, social security concerns, access to services such as finance and health care

• Access to productive resources, public services and infrastructure

• Balancing paid work with care for dependants and other repro- ductive responsibilities

Internal Challenges

• Management of groups

• Women’s participation in membership and leadership

• Communication and transparency

• Regular orders

• Common understanding and interpretation of market ideas

External Challenges• Policy-makers fail to take

account of needs of informal workers

• An absence of organized and recognized interest groups such as unions and associations

• Dismantling of state support for agricultural cooperatives

• A lack of government support to the handicraft sector

Policy Recommendations

• Recognition of women informal workers in statistics/planning/programming/budgets

• Increased participation of women in government and policy-making

• Support for women’s enterprises, (tax breaks, public procurement, access to markets,

• Credit and finance

Conclusion

Strengthening the Movement• An informal economy

perspective on Fair Trade producers

• The need for a paradigm shift from a welfare approach to a rights-based approach

• The need for a focus and institutional policy on gender equity for informal workers for WFTO and Fair Trade movement generally

• For further information, access the WIEGO publication.

• For a summary and slides of this webinar, please visit: www.womenscollectiveaction.com

Thank You