A brief overview of PARSA's new Trade Afghan Program

1. Trade Afghan Women’s
Businesses
• An IDEA-NEW Gender Strategy Program
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2. A Training, Certification and Marketing
program
•Supporting Afghan women’s businesses
in producing agriculturally based
products
•Marketing women’s products nationally
•Training businesswomen to make
products that are competitive and meet
quality standards
•Training women to increase their
production capacity to meet market
demand
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3. The “Trade Afghan” Brand
means
•Made by Afghan women
•Sold by Afghan women
•Good Quality
•Priced for Afghans

4. Program Strategy
• Modeled after “Fair Trade” Brand
certification program
• Qualifying businesswomen develop into
a network of women with strong identity
as in Grameen Bank Borrowers program
• Quality control built into program
through a sales network program for
qualifying products (only quality
products with a market will be bought)
• Training specific to each
businesswomen’s needs base on a GAP
analysis of products
• Focused on national market
• Designed for sustainability after initial
donor investment 4

5. Phase One Objectives
• Overall objective of phase one is the support of the IDEA NEW gender
strategy though an assessment of local women’s NGOs as well as the
assessment of what women’s produced products are likely to successful in
the market.
• The eight IDEA NEW value chains are assessed for potential products that
could be produced and successfully sold by Women’s groups.
• An assessment is produced of women’s NGOs, cooperatives, associations
and businesses for potential participation in the women’s agricultural
initiative.
• An assessment is produced that lists the commercially viable products that
could be produced in the targeted provinces and marketed nationally.
Priority must be given to agricultural products in IDEA NEW value chains
and agricultural products.
• An operationalization plan is produced to show the practical next steps for
the support and development of women’s branded product line.
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6. Phase One Steps
• Identification of potential participants in
Kapisa, Nangrehar, Parwan, and Panjshir,
and assessment conducted of products
produced and capacity of NGO, business
• Research on products found, as well as
potential products that could be produced
given skills available
• Training program drafted based on GAP
analysis of recommended participants
• Plan for Phase 2 completed for program
implementation in 2013.
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7. Assessment of Women’s NGO’s,
businesses and cooperatives
• Existing products and new ideas
• Number of women workers
• Capacity for expansion
• Capacity for management
• Cultural considerations
• Training needs
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8. Wheat Starch
• NafasGul owner of "FardowzehBareem” in
Jalalabad
• Makes and sells corn starch for 22 afs a
box
• Earns 8000 afs a month
• Has the capacity to make cheese and milk
products
• 20 women work part time capacity
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9. Pickles
• Sola Safi- head of “Afghan
Women Agriculture
Association” a registered
business in Jalalabad
• Makes and sells pickles at
50 afs a bottle for a total
sales of $5000 a year with
15 retail outlets
• Product certified by Ministry
of Public Health
• 20 women working in the
business
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10. Carpet Wool and
Carpets
• Produces carpet wool
thread and carpets
• Raw materials
purchased from
Koochi tribes
• Award winning quality
wool thread
• Gross revenue $50K a
year
• 300 women employed
(capacity for 1,000)
SharifaAhkmadz
ai, Carpet
Weavers
Association in
Jalalabad
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11. Women’s clothing
JamilaAkhondZada
Nangrehar Handicraft
Producers Association
• Clothing, embroidered
items and accessories
including belts
• $60k a year with items
priced from $50- $300
with a Kabul market
• 600 women working in
her business
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12. Saffron/Chicken Farm
• Mah Jan, “Shurgal Project” in Kapisa
• Sells Saffron, Eggs, Chickens and
Vegetables
• 5000 Afs a month-primarily poultry
• 5 women working in poultry and 10 women
in saffron-(new business)
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13. Sample of
Preliminary
Findings
• 15 NGO’s, Associations
and women’s businesses
• Working with 1600 women
• Jalalabad businesses have
the most developed
infrastructure and capacity
• Panjshir has the least
developed
• Products are of varying
quality, some excellent
• A number of businesses have
good potential for products
because of past projects that
have been closed.
• Access to market biggest
challenge to expansion and
employment of more women
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14. Market Research
Finding products that Afghan’s are
already buying and providing quality
products at competitive prices
• Village level-barter or sales
• Town- finding shopkeepers who will
sell Trade Afghan products
• Kabul-finding retail outlets for
products that can be produced in
quantity
• Looking for new ideas and new
markets
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15. Products found in assessment
process
Direct Agricultural Products-Raw materials from
Afghanistan
• Dried green and red
pepper, aromatic white
pepper, tomatoes, onions,
mint, eggplant, cilantro,
mulberries
• Fresh Cilantro, Parsley
• Fresh Vegetables
• Tomato Sauce
• Pickles and Chutney
• Cheese/Milk/Dogh
• Eggs/chickens
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• Meat -goat and sheep
• Saffron
• Shoes
• Wool thread for carpet
making
• Saplings -fruit and shade
trees
• Flowers and Houseplants
• Cheese/Milk/Dogh
• Eggs/chickens
• Meat -goat and sheep
• Corn Starch
• Seeds

16. Products found in assessment
process
Secondary Products-may include materials from other
countries
• Embroidery
• Lace
• Beadwork
• Woman's clothing
• Men's clothing
• Children's clothing
• Wedding dresses
• Pillows
• Dusters, bedding for
children and adults.
• Curtains
• Traditional floor pillows
• Table Cloths
• Carpets
• Accessories
• Cookies and breads-
traditional
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17. Product Development
• In Phase One we evaluate the
recommended businesses capacity to
produce new products
• We research the national market
• We connect the businesswomen with
resources and training to expand their
product line
• When the product is certified as a “Trade
Afghan” product we market the product
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18. GAP Analysis
• Each business will have a
detailed analysis of what
each potential product
needs to become
marketable through Trade
Afghan:
• Ie. MOPH certified for
hygiene, capacity for
production, transportation to
market, quality
standardization
• PARSA trainers will work
with each business to
implement a plan for
certifying products and
expansion
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19. Training Program being designed
• Quarterly workshops in
Kabul for heads of
associations and business
owners
• Provincial training programs
for employees and workers
including literacy, numeracy,
basic business concepts
including handling money
• In certifying a product,
participating women join the
Trade Afghan Women’s
Businesses network which
will be developed to offer
additional benefits
• Trade Afghan Women’s
Businesses Network
agreements
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20. Sample of Possible
Trade Afghan
Women’s
Businesses
Network Principles
• We shall follow and advance the four
principles of Trade Afghan: Honesty, Hard
Work, Unity, Peace – in all walks of our
lives.
• If we come to know of any breach of
discipline in any Trade Afghan program, we
shall all go there and help restore discipline.
• We agree to produce high quality work, on
time delivery at the right price.
• We shall participate in training programs.
• We understand Trade Afghan program is a
discipline to improve our lives and we will
commit to the following principles below in
our personal lives as well:
• We shall not live in dirty houses. We shall
keep our living places clean.
• We shall educate our children, boys and
girls, and teach them to learn to earn an
income to support their families as an adult.
• We shall always keep our children clean
and teach them to clean themselves.
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21. Certification of Trade Afghan
Products
The Trade Afghan Program helps Afghan business women improve their
product development capacity and ability to expand their market nationally.
• CERTIFICATION– Each product will be certified when the production
meets the Trade Afghan standards for quality, price and is verified as
produced by women who receive direct benefits from the sales.
• Gap Analysis – This service allows partners to understand what they
need to do in order to meet challenges and costs that will be involved in
achieving Trade Afghan certification.
• Training – will address training needs of businesswomen who elect to
certify their product under Trade Afghan. Trade Afghan quality standards
include MOPH certification for hygiene, and a rigorous process of quality
control. Participating businesswomen will have access to specific training
that will help them qualify their product for the Trade Afghan certification.
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22. Marketing
Trade Afghan
Products
• Branding of the product
line
• Word of Mouth and other
village level promotion
strategies
• Radio-educational
programs and programs
promoting women’s
businesses that are
excelling
• Television-appealing to
national pride and support
for women businesses
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23. Phase Two Development
Features of the program:
• Assessment, GAP analysis and recruitment will be
ongoing and inclusive
• Certification of products will be rigorous and support
through training will be available
• Four retail stores selling Trade Afghan products will
open with a target of 10 outlets through other
businesses in three provinces and Kabul
• Marketing campaigns will be developed for each
product at village, town and city level
• Each participating business will be monitored
throughout the process for both challenges and
progress
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24. Challenges
• Participants and PARSA employee security
• Marketing products that businesses to not have the
capacity to produce over time
• Maintaining the integrity of the Trade Afghan
certification process
• Insuring the integrity of the retail stores finances and
financial information
• Insuring that the earnings from the program go to the
women involved in the product production
• Making sure business women do not exploit lower
level workers
• Conducting a marketing campaign that appeals to
Afghan consumers
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25. Leveraging the program to benefit
Afghan Women nationally
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