Fighting Poverty with Handicrafts: Haiti

This paper examines the role of Aid to Artisans (ATA) - a U.S. based NGO, that creates economic opportunities for artisans in poverty alleviation and economic growth, through microenterprise development in Haiti.

As political and economic stability returned to Haiti, after the setbacks caused by the economic sanctions in the 1990s, the craft sector had the potential to:

• Quickly scale up production, given the availability of 400,00 artisans;
• Create jobs for small and medium enterprises (SMEs);
• Engage the microenterprises doing subcontracted work for the SMEs.

The paper describes ATA's SHAPE (Supporting Haitian Artisans in Private Enterprise) programme, supported by a US $650,000 grant from USAID/Haiti. The main objectives of the SHAPE programme were to:

• Revive buyer interest in Haitian products in the foreign markets;
• Design new products;
• Rebuild production capacities;
• Create networks needed to sustain trade growth.

The paper then elucidates that the impact created by the SHAPE programme has been manifold:

• Stimulation of markets for Haitian crafts in the U.S., Europe and the Caribbean Haitian products are sold at more than 6,000 retail shores;
• Support to 15,000 people including entrepreneurs;
• Revival of the local craft retail market.