4671 file Gaps in the value chainVictor

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SEEP Annual General Meeting Presentation The Challenges in Market Development When a Key Business in the Chain is Missing or Very Weak Victor Aguila Barro Sin Plomo

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Barro Sin Plomo is a Mexican non-profit organization founded in 2002 dedicated to artisan development with a central focus on eliminating lead in traditional pottery production, and providing technical training to potters in their adoption of lead-free glazes and other technologies that are healthy and environmentally friendly.

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Barro Sin Plomo technicians have been investigating, developing, and implementing lead-free technology and techniques appropriate for artisans for over ten years.

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BSP technicians have been involved in the development of lead-free glazes and colors, provided training on use of lead-free glazes in over ten Mexican states, introduced potters to new technologies which facilitate potters transition to lead-free production and optimize their use of natural resources while improving the quality of their products, and provided training in kiln efficiency and construction of fuel efficient kilns.

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At a certain point in the lead-free initiative the training in new techniques and use of new technology and glaze reached a limit in which the potters were not consistently incorporating the new techniques into their traditional production practices. The incentive for change was identified by Aid to Artisans as the market. Due to regulatory standards of lead established by the U.S. and Mexico buyers dramatically decreased buying traditional Mexican pottery. This rapid decrease in demand for the product resulted in potters migrating, turning to other forms of employment, increased poverty, and a resistance towards accepting any new initiatives or changes in their production.

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Since it was the market that impacted the potters the most, the market was the key to transforming the sector. With Aid to Artisans’ vision and experience in craft development around the globe, ATA filled a critical role of integrating the market into the lead-free initiative.

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The first step in integrating the market into the initiative was to link potters with U.S. clients with many years experience buying in Mexico and to convince buyers to carry the new lead-free products. The role of BSP was training potters in lead-free production and leading workshops on U.S. buyers’ product quality expectations, and to support the artists as their representatives in buyer order transactions. ATA was the principal entity working to link buyers to potters together with Barro Sin Plomo. However, this still resulted in very few sales and it was clear that there were missing gaps in the distribution channel of lead-free products

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The principal obstacles included language barriers and methods of communication between buyers and potters, producer’s lack of infrastructure, lack of channels of distribution of prime materials and lead-free glazes in communities, an established packing method for lead-free products, lack of transportation infrastructure in the state of Michoacán where the program was based and the missing role of an exporter transporting lead-free products.

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Lead-free products represented a significant risk in the beginning of the program for the exporters and buyers who tried to carry the products and the product did not signify sufficient profit for the investment the products required. One of the first buyers reported that the lead-free products only represented 5% of the sales in his gallery, and another exporter had his shipment held at the border for over three weeks while customs reviewed lead-free products he had included in his shipment which had damaging repercussions for his business.

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It was critical to the success of the initiative that the non-profit sector was investing in the potters and their transition to the new process and gradually working with potters on improving the quality of the product until the product had reached a tipping point where buyers were seriously committed to placing orders. However, once the product was ready buyers were still hesitant to place orders because the missing link of transport to their stores was still absent and the risks the product represented for the buyer.

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ATA and BSP had recognized that the market was the incentive for potters in there transition to lead-free production and that a new for-profit export entity had to be created in order to link potters to buyers. An exporter was needed urgently. Twelve years after the beginning of the initiative it is estimated that the number of potters declined from 1.5 million to 50,000 families of potters. Potters had migrated to the U.S., younger generations were longer carrying on the traditions of their parents, and the poverty, health, and environmental conditions in pottery communities had continually worsened.

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In 2003, ATA worked with BSP to establish a for-profit socially responsible export arm called SerArtesano. SerArtesano which has now changed its name to Echery Pottery serves as the bridge between artisans in rural communities and international and national buyers and provides the following services: 1. Distribution of prime materials, lead-free glazes, and tools for artisans 2. Processing and distributing purchase orders in communities and tracking fulfillment of purchase orders 3. Providing local collection of lead-free orders, consolidation, packing, and shipping of order for buyers 4. Performing quality control and lead checks on all orders to assure that products are 100% lead-free and meet client quality control standards 5. Identifying the most economic and efficient transport methods for export of orders 6. Integrating new lead-free pottery workshops trained by BSP into the Echery Pottery cooperative 7. Participating in international and national marketing events to develop clientele of lead-free products 8. Developing marketing materials and promotional materials for lead-free potters and their products including web page, catalog, business cards, product and pricing sheets

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Echery Potter now participates in international and national wholesale and retail shows throughout the year and receives orders for lead-free potters. Echery Pottery has consolidated its role as an exporter and has to date accomplished the expectations of both artisans and buyers and energized the sector, and is growing into a important model which can be replicated in the artisan sector.