3rd Quarter of 2006

APFTI prepares small Filipino producers for the EU export market

The European Market Access for Community Enterprises Program was conceptualized and implemented by APFTI with the support of the European Union to assist capable small producers in the food and crafts sector in crafting their business and marketing plans to suit and to meet the demands of the European market. The program lined up a series of activities such as market scan, export training, product development and business linking, that will prepare selected small producers for the European market.

As a component of the program, APFTI conducted a series of workshop sessions for food and crafts producers that ran from November 27-December 7, 2006 at Antipolo City. The results of the market scanning conducted by Traidcraft Exchange were presented during the sessions, allowing the participants to fit-in their production and marketing plans with the available opportunities in Europe. The producers were likewise briefed about the specific EU standards and regulations on importation.

Current design trends for handicrafts were presented by visiting Traidcraft experts Gayle Pescud and Beata Thackeray. These inputs will subsequently be used as the basis for upcoming product developments. On the other hand, the product labels and packaging requirements of EU were discussed to food producers.

The following crafts producers were selected to take part in the project: JM Handicrafts (Bicol), Cristy’s Craft House (Leyte) ELMN Enterprises (Rizal), RS Manufacturing Phils. Corp., (Rizal) Jaime Gerardo Designs (Rizal), CD Handicrafts, (Rizal), La Hermina Pina Weaving Industry (Aklan), Uswag Arts & Crafts (Aklan), Lima Interior Design (Aklan), Rentillo Enterprises (Aklan), Heritage Arts & Crafts, Dela Cruz House of Pina, Silver Handicrafts, and Non-Timber Forest Products-Task Force.

For the food sector, the following were selected: Cely’s Pilinut Candy (Bicol), Rosa Foods (Aklan), Bote Central (Las Pinas), Navarro Food International Inc. (Pampanga), Kookai Delicacies Int’l.(Metro Manila), Moondish Food Corp (Metro Manila), Southern Partners & Fair Trade Center (Cebu).




Share People Exchange Program explores local Fair Trade Shop’s work-ability

Dutch volunteers Milou Halbesma and Marielle Van der Velde from Share People, a non-profit organization that facilitates the exchange of skills and information by volunteering employees from leading EU companies to local growth oriented businesses in developing countries, examined the Filipino Fair Trade value chain and evaluated the facilitating and constraining factors affecting the success of a local Fair Trade Shop. The action-research was seen as a sound basis for some of the immediately pipelined initiatives of the Philippine Fair Trade movement. Recommendatory in nature, the study identified possible course of actions that Fair Trade Organizations (FTOs) in the Philippines can embark into.

The experts assessed the supply chain and marketing strategies of Southern Partners and Fair Trade Corporation (SPFTC) with their People’s Fair Trade Shop located at Osmena Boulevard, Cebu. The action research also looked into the awareness campaign being implemented by the Philippine Fair Trade Movement, with particular emphasis to that of APFTI’s advocacy efforts. They also visited the Minglanilla mango farmers, the handicrafts makers of NAPO, the producers of PREDA, the processing plant of SPFTC and the People’s Fair Trade Shop.

The action-research pointed out that the Philippine Movement should do some preliminary levelling-off on the message and conduct specific market studies on the particular market segment it would like to target. The study recommended that the campaigns should be directed towards creating awareness on this identified segment; such programmatic actions would more likely translate public awareness on Fair Trade into the desired transaction of buying Fair Trade products.



APFTI attends International Organic Agriculture Conference



APFTI Executive Director Rommel Agustin served as a reactor in the International Organic Agriculture Conference organized by Altertrade Corporation in Bacolod City last November 14-16, 2006. Mr. Agustin provided a Fair Trade perspective on sessions discussing international trends on the volume, quality and price of organic produce; and on a workshop exploring the benefits of Fair Trade to communities. He pointed out that demand for Fair Trade and Organic produce have increased in the last ten years; a phenomenon that small producers can take advantage of. Efforts to increase productivity and to polish the supply chain must therefore be prioritized

With the theme, Nurturing Learning Communities on Organic Agriculture for Trade with European Markets, the conference facilitated dialogue and collaboration among organic producers, consumer organizations and public policy makers on the agenda of widening the domestic and international markets for organic products. Seeing much congruence on goals, the Fair Trade movement has always been in constant coordination with the Organic Movement.



Western Visayas, CARAGA, Bicol and Northern Mindanao producers undergo APFTI’s training programs

Fair Trade aligned courses on business planning, product costing, creative selling and cash flow management were given to APFTI partner producers in Aklan, Bukidnon Bicol and Iligan. The courses were designed to improve the competencies of small producers on the particular field that the pre-training needs-assessment has identified. The training courses of APFTI were designed in consideration of evident small producer realities and conditions: it gave careful attention on the capabilities and limitations of small producers, thus, generating simple, practical and workable plans that they can apply to their respective enterprises. The principles of Fair Trade were also integrated to the design, further allowing producers to see the correlation between social responsibility with the viability of their ventures.


Fair Trade Business Planning for Aklan producers

Fifteen food (15) producers in Aklan, under the Integrated Enterprise Development Program, took part in the Business Planning Workshop held last November 2006. Analyzing their needs, it has been identified that the lack of business direction, market analysis and financial projections prevented small producers from further taking off. APFTI Consultant Reggie Gaza said that based from the experiences of APFTI’s In-Depth Coaching clients, the design of the business planning session significantly allowed budding producers to put finality to their marketing strategies and capital generation proposals. Business counselor Nynn Arwena Dalida Garcia-Tamayo handled the sessions.



Cost Effectiveness in Fair Trade for Iligan producers

APFTI’s standard module on Effective Pricing and Costing was discussed to 20 partner-producers in Iligan City under the Integrated Enterprise Development Program. Giving their experiences on price computations, majority of the producers realized that they have under priced most of their goods by putting inexact values on aspects like labor, utilities and capital depreciation. The training provided practical techniques that small producers can use in appropriately pricing their goods. The training also elaborated the role of pricing and costing in increasing the market-ability of their products. The session’s final outputs were sample price computations for 5 of their products.



Creative Selling in Fair Trade for Bukidnon producers

Twenty producers (20) in Bukidnon attended the training on effective selling last November 20-21, 2006 in Malaybalay. XTC Trainer Juliet Odra delivered the module that discussed various approaches in opening new accounts, getting new customers, and retaining a customer base. Sales and After-Sales services, according to Ms.Odra must be carried out in a systematic and creative manner to keep a relatively solid customer base.



Cash Flow Management for Bicol producers

Bicol partner-producers in the provinces of Sorsogon, Catanduanes and Albay under the Integrated Enterprise Development Program learned some basic and practical measures to effectively handle their finances through a seminar on Cash Flow Management given by XTC Trainer Juliet Odra. The session has provided the participants inputs on the structure, interpretation and analysis of financial statements. The business and cash flow cycle, accounting policies and principles were also made straightforward and practical. The partner producers realized that by setting up control mechanisms (documentations), they would be able to monitor the status of their businesses and prevent unaccounted losses. These documents, they recognized, will allow them to do more timely business decisions and projections.




APFTI supports OTOP Visayas Trade Fair

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Regional Operations Group and the Small and Medium Enterprise Development (SMED) Council partnered with APFTI in staging the OTOP Visayas Island Trade Fair at SM Cebu City from November 21-26, 2006. OTOP Visayas Trade Fair showcased the best products made by SME’s in the Visayas. For the first time, SME’s from the three regions of the Visayas (regions 6,7 and 8) converged in this fair that maximized the diverse efforts coming from the government, civil society and the private sector. With a number of APFTI’s partner-producers participating in the exhibition, APFTI recognized that the event could significantly raise the condition of small producers and could open new opportunities for them. With the fair’s strategic location, it reached local and national buyers and was able to get mainstream consumers’ interest. Similar with the Fair Trade goal of creating opportunities for marginalized producers, DTI’s OTOP program strengthened countryside development by promoting entrepreneurship and creating jobs.



APFTI reinforces the principles of Fair Trade to CCAP and INSOL producers

APFTI has been constantly tapped by its partner-organizations, Community Crafts Association of the Philippines (CCAP) and INSOL, in providing the basic Fair Trade Orientation to their beneficiaries. CCAP is a Fair Trade Intermediary marketing Organization (IMO), sourcing products from small crafts makers for the export market. INSOL on the other hand, has been providing business development services to the micro-finance clients of their development arm--Ahon sa Hirap, Inc.(ASHI)

Last December, APFTI gave a series of Fair Trade orientation to their producers and micro-finance beneficiaries. The CCAP orientations were held in Naga and Albay in the Bicol Region, and Abra in CAR, where most of CCAP producers were based. The orientations for INSOL were held in Laguna and Rizal. INSOL, together with its development arm Ahon sa Hirap Inc. (ASHI) has been giving business development assistance to its beneficiaries who are mostly coming from the informal sector. The orientations further elaborated on the role of small producers in improving the lives of their communities and the importance of incorporating social and environmental responsibility to their ventures, despite their apparent limitations.


Fair Trade Lecture Series round Cebu universities

APFTI and the Southern Partners and Fair Trade Corporation (SPFTC) conducted a series of lectures to various universities in Cebu City. APFTI Advocacy Manager Ronald Lagazo and SPFTC Managing Director Geraldine Labradores visited UP Visayas, University of San Carlos, and St. Theresa’s College. The talks tackled the standards and principles of Fair Trade, the Fair Trade mark, the international market, as well as its indicators when put into the context of the local setting.



“Buy Local, Buy Fair” Consumer Awareness Campaign on Fair Trade

Asia Fair Trade Forum (AFTF) and APFTI gained significant advantages in increasing consumer awareness on Fair Trade as the “Buy Local, Buy Fair” Campaign culminated this December. The campaign, which was funded by Oxfam-GB East Asia, was able to reach top print, online and broadcast media.

Inspirational stories about Fair Trade practitioners in the country and the Fair Trade movement in the country were featured in the leading dailies like the Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI), Philippine Star, Manila Times, and the Manila Standard.
Fair Trade related stories also appeared at magazines such as the Philippine Graphic, Starweek, and Highlife.

APFTI Board of Trustee Claribel David, APFTI Executive Director Rommel Agustin, Advocacy Manager Ronald Lagazo and PFTF Chairperson Alex Hermoso have appeared on TV and radio programs discussing Fair Trade.



Philippine Fair Trade Forum convenes as a GA

Philippine Fair Trade Forum (PFTF), the national coalition of enterprises, producer groups, marketing and support organizations adhering and advocating for Fair Trade, held its General Assembly last December 6, 2006 at Norfil Foundation in Quezon City. Twenty member-organizations attended the GA. Updates on on-going programs such as the various AFTF projects, Consumer Awareness Campaign, and the National Fair Trade Labeling Initiative were presented to the body. The session also amended some provisions of its by-laws and discussed preliminary preparations for the World Fair Trade Day.

New member-organizations were likewise inducted. Bote Central Inc., Moondish Inc., Non-Timber Forest Product Exchange Program (NTFP-EP), Philippine Development Assistance Program (PDAP), and the Organic Certification Council of the Philippines (OCCP) were formally accepted as PFTF members. An election was also held that re-instated Chairperson Alex Hermoso of PREDA to the post. The following were also elected as officers of the forum: Geraldine Labradores of SPFTC (Vice Chairperson), Rommel Agustin of APFTI (Secretary), Sofronio Lapitan of SAFRUDI (Treasurer) and Betty More of KATAKUS, Crissy Guererro of NTFP-EP, and Rene Guarin of UMFI (Representatives).



APFTI releases FACE program product catalog

APFTI published a 100-page product catalog and producer’s directory that presents the product development outputs of its partner producers from Ilocos Sur, Benguet, Pangasinan, Pampanga, Bulacan, Rizal, Albay, Camarines Sur, Sorsogon, Iloilo, Guimaras, Aklan, Negros Occidental, Leyte, Samar, Davao, Misamis Oriental and Cotabato. More than a hundred handicrafts producers benefited from the Fair Trade Assistance to Community Enterprises (FACE) funded by the European Union (EU). The catalog, which will be circulated by APFTI to its partner organizations in the country and abroad, was expected to give these enterprises the much-needed exposure and opportunities to meet potential buyers.