2011 2012 annual report

WOMEN IN BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT INC

2011-2012 ANNUAL REPORT

President’s Message 3

Words from Executive Director 5

2011-2012 in Numbers 6-7

Organics 9

Virgin Coconut Oil 10-11

Financial Literacy 12

Finemats & Handicrafts 13

Positive Connections 14

Vital Voice & Communications 15

Climate Change

& Disaster Risk Management 16

Regional Outreach 17

Statement of Finance 18

Statement of Activities 19

CONTENTS

Malo le Soifua ma le lagi mama,

Triumph through adversity. That was the 2011-2012 year for Women in Business Development.

Through the commitment of the organisation’s farming families, its local staff and overseas donors, especially Oxfam NZ, Women in Business were able to build on the successes of the past two decades, despite tight finan-cial constraints. The organisation continues to see families transformed by being able to master their own economic destinies.

Last year, the organic programme saw unprecedented growth with the number of organically certified farms increasing from 350 to 651, and the inclusion of three villages in the programme. This brought the total land area to 31,000 hectares that were organically certified. Our virgin coconut oil production contin-ued to bring in income into village families, and we also saw the number of families earning an income from organics increase by almost a third.

Another highlight is the growth in financial literacy and savings, which were almost five times more than the total loaned in the Women in Busi-ness Development’s microfinance programme last year.

Regionally, the organisation extended its outreach to organisations across the Pacific.

I must also acknowledge our executive director, Adimaimalaga Tafuna’i, who received a coveted global Vital Voices Award for Economic Empow-

erment. Adi was one of seven women from around the world honoured for their contribu-tion.

The pathway that Women in Business Development navigates is untrodden but always there is a vision of independent family centred businesses that have realised their cultural and economic potential.

Tofa soifua,

Ruta Sinclair

Women in Business Development Inc President

President’s Message

A vision of independent

family centred businesses that

have realised their cultural and

economic potential. 2011-2012 BOARD

PRESIDENT

Ruta Sinclair

BOARD MEMBERS

Alo Kolone Vaai

Edwin Tamasese

Peseta Margaret Malua

Sheree Stehlin

“

3

That vulnerable families in Samoa are able to contribute fully to their own development, the development of their community and country through income generation, job creation and participation in the village economy.

To provide and empower these families with knowledge and skills, opportunities, access to finance and markets.

That a Samoan model of development must take into account Samoan values, tradition and culture.

That a sustainable change occurs slowly and requires a long-term commitment.

That the most vulnerable people in Samoa need to develop sources of income to increase self-reliance and independence.

That Samoa development requires networking with communities, government and other organisations in Samoa, throughout the Pacific and internationally.

Our Vision

Our Mission

Our Values & Beliefs

1. To provide capacity building and support for income-generating activities/programmes.

2. To identify and gain access to markets for products made by vulnerable groups.

3. To establish Women in Business Development Inc as a financially secured organisation with the re-sources to carry out its mission.

4. To work with likeminded organisations within the Pacific and internationally to develop a common framework for fair trade and organics that enables joint marketing and support in times of natural disas-ters.

5. To promote awareness of disaster preparedness and food security among WIBDI clients.

6. To develop national strategic alliances with the Ministries and Agencies (Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Ministry of Commerce Industry and Labour, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Development Bank of Samoa).

Our Goals

From the Executive Director

The answer is the need

to scale up so that they become

more efficient, more economic,

more sustainable.

“

Scale. When I think about all the projects Women in Business Development are involved in and what their common need is, the answer is the need to scale up so that they become more efficient, more economic, more sustainable.

All our projects now provide a regular source of income for families and as more families become involved, the challenge is how to support them so they can become independent and become fully commercial. Bringing vulnerable people into commerce, which is totally new to their way of life and way of thinking, needs commitment and resources. The challenges of supplying a market and learning how to manage money are new and need to be addressed. The

processes all need to work together if we are seri-ous about creating real sustainable livelihoods.

One major issue arising is the inability of the pro-ducers to keep up with supply. The organisation has markets waiting but needs more resources to be able to supply these markets and to be seen by the markets as credible.

Internally, the organisation is also looking towards the horizon of sustainability. The virgin coconut oil project has all its costs built into the programme and I am pleased to say that pro-gramme is supporting itself. However, we still need to put energy and resource into bringing in new families into the programme to meet the market demand. As we do this, we will face additional pressures such as storage facilities, staffing and transport.

Our projects continue to make lasting impacts on the lives of families involved. While we only report earnings of families who have earned regularly for at least nine months, the majority of our families earn money sporadically. However, what they earn makes a huge impact on their lives.

Without Women in Business’ intervention, many families would not earn money and would be to-tally dependent on remittances. Our projects teach them to be self-reliant and show them that they can earn an income where they live. The paradigm change needs to be made in their thinking — this is Women in Business Development’s greatest challenge because we work with generations of fami-lies who have thought that to earn cash, they need to send their people away.

Adimaimalaga Tafuna’I Executive Director

5

728 certified organic farmers, up from

350

11 Pacific

regional

partners

183

families grew disaster resistant

crops

$100,448 in savings

$22,112 in loans

876 microfinance members

2011-2012 in Numbers

496 farmers in food security

project

1

global award for economic empower-

ment

170 families received Fair Trade

training

$132,595 earnings for farmers

$500,000 estimated total earnings for

farming families

Every Friday, the Women in Business Develop-ment office is a bustling fruit and vegetable market as organic farmers bring in their baskets of pro-duce that have been pre-ordered earlier in the week.

It’s a good place to be as the delicious smell of or-anges, basil and spring onions mingle in the air.

Ana Epati is one of those farmers who make the weekly trip from the outer villages. Through the organic baskets programme, Ana receives regular income that complements her husband, Epati Pofitu’s earnings as they strive to provide for their seven children.

“Since I started on the organic basket programme, I now have a place to make money easily. I just bring in the fruits, veges and herbs that they ask me and I know I will be earning money from them,” says Ana who comes from Faleasiu.

Ana says the organic field workers also taught her how to compost and use the compost on her soil instead of chemicals. She has seen such positive results that she has become a real advocate for or-ganic farming.

“Don’t you ever use the chemicals on your soil. It does not help build the health of the land and the people. There is so much you can do naturally,” says Ana.

“Also I have learned so much about the soil and health of my vegetables and fruit and how that helps the health of the plants and of the people eating these fruits and vegetables.”

Another aspect of her farming that has changed is the diverse range of crops Ana has in her planta-tion. “At first I did not know about beans or basil and now they are my favourite to grow.”

Sowing healthy

futures

Don’t you ever use the chemicals on

your soil. It does not help build the

health of the land and the people. There

is so much you can do naturally.”

“

The organic project has grown considerably with the number of organically certified farms double with 350 (2009-2010) to 728 farms. Staff rallied to cope with the additional workload to certify and monitor extra farmers with great results. In

all there were 2130 organic site visits conduct-ed. In addition to individual farmers, three vil-lages in Savai’i were also organically certified, bringing the total land area organically certified to 31,000 hectares in Samoa.

Income earned on organic projects was $132,595.50. Two thirds of this total can be at-tributed to virgin coconut oil sales. (Please see pages 10-11 for a full virgin coconut oil report.)

The earnings from fruit and vegetable sales, which only accounts for sales made via Women in Business Development, does not include farmers’ earnings from their own markets. The organisation estimates that the annual earnings from farmers selling in their own local outlets may be as much as $500,000.

During the year, the organisation continued to run an organic baskets service.

It also catered the Australian High Commission’s Fun Run activities, which used fruits from our organic farmers. Coffee sales were still low due to trading partner C1Espresso in Christchurch having to refurbish new premises after the earthquakes forced them to move. A positive outcome for the year was 170 families now earn a regular income from organics, 50 more than last financial year.

The last financial year saw a major bounce back for nonu exports for Nonu Samoa Enterprises Ltd, which is a sub-licensee of Women in Busi-ness. Eleven tonnes of virgin coconut oil were also exported to The Body Shop UK, via Earth

Oil, and Hawai’i. Modest amounts of fetau oil, coffee and vanilla were exported.

Dried misiluki bananas were exported under Fair Trade to All Good Organics in New Zealand.

Organic Earnings

Organic export quantities

2011-2012 Organic Results

Organic Agricultural Earnings 2011-2012

9

Virgin coconut oil,

$93,496.41

Misiluki bananas,

$12,090.80

Fruit and

Vegetables,

$19,000.12

Fetau, $5,657.19Nonu, $1,603.71 Vanilla, $614.35

Coffee, $133.00

2011-2012 was a challenging year with a re-duced number of farmers pressing virgin coco-nut oil but there were also many positive out-comes. One farmer processer was de-certified – resulting in a three-year re-entry timeline – and two processors leaving the programme, with one of these farmers returning late in the financial year. To help streamline the produc-tion of virgin coconut oil, a production manager

was employed. We saw a great improvement in the latter part of the year and are sure to see an on-going benefit in increased production and export as a result of this work. To supple-ment exports, the organisation has also started building a virgin coconut oil press at the two-acre Nu’u production site. The press will also be used for research and development. This press will be fully operational in August 2012.

Virgin coconut oil results for 2011-2012

A sustainable formula The virgin coconut oil project has been costed out so that each element of the process is ac-counted for. For each kilogram of virgin coconut oil, each cost factor is given a value—this in-cludes vehicle, testing, packing, export project

management, fuel, storage and depreciation. With all of these factors built in, Women in Business Development is able to give the farm-ers a maximum price without creating a loss to the organisation.

Now when the Luagalau family rings their relations overseas, they don’t ask

them for money to pay weekly bills, they just have a good old catch-up.

Since becoming one of Wom-en in Business Development’s organic virgin coconut oil pro-cessors, the Luagalau family have found a new way to earn an income from home, work alongside each other, send a daughter to university and become healthier in the pro-cess.

The Luagalau family live in the village of Sagone in Savaii. It’s a village with a proud history of not using chemi-cals on their land. In 2010 the entire vil-lage was organically certified with the National Association for Sustainable Ag-riculture, Australia.

In 2011, Luagalau Lautafi Kelemete, wife Selesa and their two sons, Molieli and Eli, learned how to hand-press virgin coconut oil. Their home-based business has be-come so successful they call it the “bank”. “We thank God,” says Luagalau. “We are very pleased with the business because it has helped us fulfill our obligations to the village, family and the church.”

Selesa says the business has helped pay for their youngest daughter to attend the

National University of Samoa, something they are very proud of. “Now we do not have to ring family overseas for money,” says Selesa. “But if we had just sat around, we would have had no weekly income.

Luagalau says at first learning to press coconut oil was physically tiring but now their bodies are used to the work. One of the bonuses for Luagalau is he has lost 10 kilograms in the process. “You have to move to earn a living. Nobody earns a liv-ing if they don’t move.”

The family was set up a coconut drier, two grating machines, scales and a metal coconut oil press. The process has virtual-ly no waste because the coconut shells and husks can be used to fuel the drier and the lefto-ver pressed coco-nut gratings are fed to the pigs.

Last year their farm was organically certified by the Na-tional Association for Sustainable Agri-culture, Australia. The family provides oil weekly to Women in Business Develop-ment, which in turn exports the oil to international cosmetic retailer The Body Shop, under its Community Trade pro-gramme.

Empowering families

You have to move to earn a living. Nobody earns a living if they don’t move.”

The advantages of Fair Trade are seen as: stable prices, a Fair Trade premium, partnership and the empowerment of farmers and workers. Current-ly, virgin coconut oil is the only product being sold with the fair trade label – Body Shop Com-munity Trade program. The Fair Trade premium earned =$11,826. In 2011-2012, a total of 170 farmers received Fair Trade training, which is

working towards gaining fair trade certification through the Fair Trade Labelling Organisation (FLO). A Women in Business Development appli-cation was submitted to FLO earlier and a num-ber of issues needed to be addressed so that the FLO criteria can be satisfied. WIBDI has ad-dressed these issues and will be applying for cer-tification when funding is available.

The Body Shop UK In April 2011, The Body Shop launched a new range of products and advised virgin coconut oil was an ingredient in 30 of their products.

The Body Shop has proved a solid trading partner and good friend to Women in Business Develop-ment. On a recent visit to The Body Shop Head-quarters in the UK, we received a commitment from The Body Shop officials to consider the Pa-

cific Islands as a serious Community Trade part-ner. The Body Shop further agreed to begin ac-cepting virgin coconut oil from the Tongan Na-tional Youth Congress farmers as soon as organic certification was obtained by their farmers. This certification should happen in 2013.

Fair Trade

“

11

Financial literacy training for all families earning a regular income continues to be the main thrust of the microfinance project. For the 2011-2012 period, the total amount of savings was almost five times the amount that was loaned, showing that families understand the value of planning ahead.

The total amount of savings for the year was $100,448. Total amount loaned was $22,112.00. The total number of active micro-finance members was 876. However, staff found it difficult to provide quality financial liter-acy training with their current commitments. Ideally, two new staff members are required for this process to continue and make a lasting impact.

Microfinance Results 2011-2012

Financial literacy

Ivivi Tele calls the family savings a blessing. For the past six year Ivivi and his family have been organic farmers with Women in Business Development.

“I tell you now, before we can’t save any money because we always rely on remit-tance. But now we have a family savings ac-count at the office from our crops sales, which it was never happened before.”

Ivivi says the family, who live in the village of Faleasiu, has also learned to save money by simply not spending it.

“Before, we al-ways buy vege-tables from oth-er farmers for our family food, but that is an-other side I, as a

farmer, really appreciate.

“We started working very hard in our land growing different vegetables, which is a big change in our family environment. All my family work together in our farm to cultivate the soil.”

He adds that the family has learned to budg-et their income “because we now know the importance of budgeting our finance accord-ing to what we receive.”

Creating blessings

We now know the

importance of budgeting our

finance according to what we

receive.”

“

Apiseka Falefa is 36 years old and resides with her young family in the village Tu-fatafoe, on the island of Savai’i in Samoa.

She is regarded as one of Samoa’s best weavers.

Apiseka says: “Some people say weaving a fine mat is too hard but I keep working at it. They just give up too easily. It is a treasure of Samoa.”

Since learning the art of Ie Sae weaving in 1997 through a Women in Business Devel-opment Inc workshop to revitalize the dying art, she has woven 12 Ie Sae.

Recently, one of Apiseka’s fine mats was bought by the Senri Foundation in Japan, where it will go on display at the National Museum of Ethnology in Osaka.

In national annual competitions that started in 2004, Apiseka has won the top prize five times. In 2003 she was awarded a brand new fridge as Women in Busi-ness’ top weaver. The process of bathing her mat was filmed by NZ’s TV3 in Nov,

The fine mat project enables women to earn a regular income where they live and supports the cultural tradition of the fine mat. The number of weavers being sponsored on the program remains at nine, with 20 others weaving lesser quality fine mats. The nine sponsored weavers are the sole income earner for their families, impacting as many as 120 people. A total of 71 weavers were trained during this financial year, an increase of 19 from the last financial year, with 492 site visits made to fine mat weavers.

We continue to support handicraft artisans with marketing of their products overseas and quality assurance training. All artisans supported by the organisation also have their own local markets, so income recorded is not reflective of total earnings. For this financial year, Women in Business records show a total of $9,577 was paid to local artisans for handicrafts exported overseas. Field staff made 133 site visits to 11 handicraft producers and facilitated 19 sales.

2011-2012 Fine Mats and Handicraft result

Honouring tradition

Some people say weaving a

fine mat is too hard but I keep

working at it... It is a treasure of

Samoa. “

13

What I love about Women in Business Develop-ment is they understand what it’s going to take to bring the whole of Samoa into an era of eco-nomic, cultural and physical prosperity. And when I say whole, I mean from families in the remotest nooks of Savaii to the business own-ers in bustling Apia.

I had pleasure of working with the organisation for the book Me’a Kai: The Food And Flavours Of The South Pacific , which won Best Cookbook in the World 2010 at the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards, and then more re-cently on developing the follow-up book Mea’ai Samoa: Recipes from the heart of Polynesia.

To me, the organisation’s focus on organic agri-culture will lead to innovation throughout the entire food industry in Samoa, in restaurants and

hotels alike. As the Le Cordon Bleu Ambassador Chef for New Zealand and the Pacific Islands, this was confirmed when Le Cordon Bleu Paris wrote to me saying how greatly they enjoyed the

“beautiful coconut oil from ‘Women in Business Development’ in Samoa.

“These are the ingredients of haute cuisine and I applaud the women of the South Pacific who are creat-ing such fine food.”

Right now there is a powerful craving around the world to con-nect with the sources where food

comes from through urban farmers markets — and when you look at Samoa it is one amazing, pure and authentic farmers market!

Robert Oliver Author/Chef/Development Entrepreneur

Positive Connector

To me, the organisa-

tion’s focus on organic

agriculture will lead to

innovation throughout the

entire food industry in

Samoa, in restaurants and

hotels alike.

“

To celebrate the organisation’s 21 years in operation, a publication was produced to highlight Women in Busi-ness Development’s work in Samoa and the region.

The organisation’s website was also relaunched with new content added. To complement the new website, complementary social media sites were added such as Twitter and Facebook, which has been positive in showing the organisations daily work to a supportive local and international audience.

To do this work, a part-time media consultant was hired. With the executive director receiving an interna-tional award, the consultant was also able to assist with the extra media attention.

In the future, we will be exploring the potential of online and traditional media as we try to attract more markets and sponsors, and build our network of sup-port.

A Vital Voice

The Global Leadership Awards by Vital Voices Global Partnership recognises “unsung heroines” champi-oning human rights, economic development, and democracy.

Established in 1997 by then-First Lady Hillary Ro-dham Clinton in partnership with former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, the Vital Voices initiative is intended to elevate the status of women through mentoring, training, and building networks.

In June 2012, Women in Business Development ex-

ecutive director Adimaimalaga Tafuna’i was recog-nized for economic empowerment.

Adi is the first Pacific woman to receive a Vital Voices award.

The award was presented in Washington D.C. and put Adi in touch with many influential people from around the world. It also brought Women in Busi-ness Development to the attention of a global audi-ence.

Communications & Marketing

This photo was taken by photographer Micky Wiswedel when the Vital Voices team visited Samoa in April 2012. Photo: Micky Wiswedel/Courtesy of Vital Voices

15

Women in Business Development believes all fami-lies should be aware of the issues surrounding cli-mate change, how it affects them and the country as a whole. Member families are encouraged to grow crops that will not be affected by cyclones as well as having backyard gardens that supply nutri-tional food. We also encourage them to grow sur-plus produce that can be sold for cash at the week-ly organic basket sales, produce markets, and road-side stalls. In 2011-2012, 496 families were part of the food security programme and learning how to save seeds, with 183 families growing disaster-resistant crops.

To generate enough seed stock, the organisation is working with the Samoa Trust Estates Corporation where 6,000 acres of land have been organically certified, in preparation to develop planting materi-als for coffee and cocoa. These materials will be distributed to smallholder farmers. A number of farmers are also being supported to prepare plant-ing materials that they either sell to other organic farmers or exchange for other crops.

Climate Change

& Disaster Risk Management

Our nursery has seedlings gathered from farmers as well as seeds bought with donor funds to help grow planting materials to assist with disaster mitigation and recovery.

Regional outreach Women in Business Development has continued to build relationships across the Pacific. Many of these encounters have been initiated by non-governmental organisations as well as central gov-ernment agencies in these countries.

The regional outreach, especially in terms of sharing markets, is seen as a climate change and disaster risk management measure to ensure that if Samoa is affected by a natural disaster, partner organisa-tions will be able to pick up and maintain its export markets.

In 2011-2012, the organisation was honoured to work with Department of Agriculture, Chuuk, Feder-ated States of Micronesia; the Kiribati Organic Farm-ers Association; the Vanuatu Farm Support Associa-tion, which represents other organic groups in Va-nuatu; Cuku Village Trust and Sigatoka Young Farmers Group, Fiji; Kastum Gaden and Solomon Islands Women in Business group; and Tonga Na-tional Youth Congress.

Work is ongoing with additional support from the Canada Fund, in Kiribati, Fiji, Vanuatu, Chuuk and Tonga, with Tonga developing into a market shar-ing.

The organisation also assisted the Solomon Island Women in Business group funded by the Ausaid Pacific Leadership Program.

Women in Business Development staff conducting virgin coconut oil training in Tonga with the Tonga National Youth Congress.

Women in Business Development is working across the Pacific to assist groups develop agro-economies.

DONATIONS RECEIVED 2011 2012

Oxfam New Zealand $713,945 $1,054,680

*NZAID $675,960 $7,646

Tautai Pacific Arts Trust $105,152 $0

Government of Samoa $40,000 $40,000

Canada Fund $33,814 $24,289

Tindall Foundation $28,433 $0

Commonwealth Foundation $24,186 $0

US Embassy (Challenge Samoa) $19,467 $17,255

Private Sector Support Fund $17,488 $0

US Embassy $8,589 $0

Rotary Club of Samoa $4,000 $0

Fiji Embassy (Challenge Samoa) $3,921 $5,258

TOTAL $1,674,955 $1,149,128

Statement of Finance

Statement of Activities

1. INCOME

a. Brought forward: $103,966.23

b. Funds received: $1,019,681.67

Total funds (a+b): $1,123,647.90

2. EXPENDITURE:

Description Budget Actual Variance

Outcome 1: Provide training to 745 farmers/artisans

to maintain organic certification/compliance and to

enhance financial skills.

$467,776.58 $335,696.42 $132,080.16

Outcome 2: Support Women in Business Development

and producers to meet the growing demand of local

and foreign markets

$74,044.00 $57,977.73 $16,066.27

Outcome 3: Provide institutional support to Women in

Business Development with a focus on organizational

sustainability.

$171,518.00 $153,313.74 $18,204.26

Direct Project Support Costs: $560,713.54 $515,341.24 $45,372.30

Total Expenditure $1,274,052.12 $1,062,329.13 $211,722.99

Balance (1-2) $61,321.55 *Balance to be

carried forward

to next report-

ing period

Loss on exchange 13,966.56

ONZ partner workshop meeting costs held by ONZ 3,088.00

LOV year 1 funding not received to date 133,346.88

Total of items above 150,401.44

Total difference budget vs funds received 150,404.22

Slight variance 2.78-

Total budget was $1,274,052.12; however funds received was $1,123,647.90 leaving a difference of $150,404.22 relating to the fol-lowing;

Provide training to 745 farmers/artisans to

maintain organic certification/compliance and

to enhance financial skills.

Support Women in Business Development

and producers to meet the growing demand

of local and foreign markets

Provide institutional support to Women in Business

Development with a focus on organizational

sustainability.

2011-2012 Expenditure

19

That vulnerable families in Sa-moa are able to contribute fully to their own development, the development of their com-munity and country through income generation, job crea-tion and participation in the village economy.

To provide and empower these families with knowledge and skills, opportunities, access to finance and markets.

Our Vision

Our Mission

Women in Business Development Inc 2nd Floor, Nia Mall, Fugalei PO Box 6591, Apia Samoa Ph: +685 21959 www.womeninbusiness.ws www.facebook.com/wibdi www.twitter.com/wibdi_samoa

For believing in us

Fa’afetai lava. Thank you

For supporting us with finance

Fa’afetai lava. Thank you

For buying our farmers’ products

Fa’afetai lava. Thank you

For sponsoring our weavers

Fa’afetai lava. Thank you

For your prayers and thoughts

Fa’afetai, fa’afetai, fa’afetai lava

Thank you, thank you, thank you