Country: Brazil
Organization: Vision Mundial
2) Sector of activity: Consumer Products
Commerce
3) Description of your products or services: In 1999 Vision Mundial created the Fair Trade Program that helps approximately 3000 small Brazilian producers to market their products in the internal and external market. At the moment Vision Mundial exports handicrafts for a network of 420 shops of Fair Trade in Europe, chestnuts to Switzerland and other products to countries like United States and Japan. In 2005 Vision Mundial along with other cooperating NGO created ETICA Solidary Commerce a non for profit company to distribute the production. The difference between the Vision Mundial Program as compared with hundreds of government and non government programs we have in the country is that it is not only a helping program but its goal is sustainability of the producer.
4) Description of the operational model: The Solidary Commerce program works towards training, organization and development of the producer. ETICA opens the market to distribute the production and is in charge of marketing. All the process is made in a transparent way for the producer and the buyer on basis of the fair price principle. Previously, the small producer delivered its production to the middle man who retained most of the benefits of the marketing. The objective of the Program is to stimulate the producer to sell directly without intermediaries.
5) Description of the financial model: THE SMALL PRODUCER RECEIVES AN ADVANCE OF 50% OF THE VALUE OF THE SALE FOR PURCHASING RAW MATERIAL WHEN HE RECEIVES THE CONFIRMATION OF THE ORDER. MAIN FINANCING SOURCES OF THE PROGRAM ARE IDB, USAID, VISION MUNDIAL INTERNACIONAL AND BRAZILIAN GOVERNMENT.
Client fees represent this approximate percentage of operational budget: 10%
6) Key operational partnership: BID, FACES DO BRASIL- Forum for Ethical and Solidary Commerce ,USAID, Brazilian Government, AACC, CDRM
• We are in the scaling up stage Scaling up. The Program of Fair Trade is working since 1999. It started helping a group of 200 producers for melon exports to Europe. Nowadays we have 3000 customers that not only produce consumer products, but handicrafts and clothing.
7) Current outreach:
We are at the Scaling Up stage.
How many clients have benefited from your product/service in total? Over the last year? 3000
What percentage of your clients is below the poverty line ($2 per day)? 90% (100%) Program only works with producers that are below the poverty line
What is the order of magnitude of the potential demand for your products or services? Which
other low-income groups, countries or regions could benefit from it? Try to quantify (number
of clients, market size in currency):
Brazil is a country with thousands of small producers that make quality products but that have great difficulties to access markets. At the moment there is being processed a research performed by Vision Mundial in different countries of Latin America with the cooperation of the Federal University of Pernambuco (Brazil)to analyze the potential market for the fair trade in the continent which might enable expansion of this Program to other countries of the region.
8) Scale-up strategy:
How many low-income individuals do you plan to benefit in three years from now? How are you planning to scale up or replicate your solution? What are the major constraints to scale up?
Approximately 2500 to 3000 additional ones IDB is one of the main supports of the Program. We have almost all our goals programmed in projects until year 2006 which were already surpassed: 720 micro producers using new production techniques, training of 1440 small producers, sales of the commercial enterprise for an amount higher than US$2.100.000. The Program is already considering an expansion to replicate it in other countries where Vision Mundial Operates.
Which specific areas - and why - in your field would benefit most from investment by corporations, foundations, and other investors:
9) The organization: How does the initiative fit with your overall organization's strategic goals and priorities? How did the initiative start?
The focus of Vision Mundial in the countries it operates is childhood, and thus, in Brazil it has help to structure and develop the family environment of children creating projects for economic development like the Program of Ethic Commerce.
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10) On the mosaic diagram, which of these factors is the primary focus of your work?
- Factor: Poor understanding of the human and social capitals of low income communities
- Principle: Leverage the power of communities as both consumers and producers
- Other: The Fair Trade principles the program observes are: Strengthening of democracy, respect to liberty of expression – Fair production conditions – Support to the local sustainable development – Respect for the Environment – Respect for the rights of women and children – Information to consumer to guarantee transparency in the commercial chain.
Contact Information:
Name: Glayson Ferrari dos Santos - Executive Manager of the Fair Trade Program
Organization: Vision Mundial
Mailing address: Av. Mascarenhas de Morais, 440 Imbiribeira - Recife/PE
Country: Brazil
Email: vmb_fairtrade@wvi.org
Tel: 81 34283555
Fax: 81 34283555
Website: www.visaomundial.org.br
Organization's legal status: ONG
Number of Employees: 250
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