Appendix 8 best practice in fair trade networks evaluation report

Annex 8

Dialogue and learning amongst fair trade networks in East and Southern Africa Final Evaluation Report Project implemented by

Malawi Fair Trade Network Rwanda Forum for Alternative Trade Swaziland Fair Trade

Contents Executive Summary ................................................................................................................................. 3 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 3 Overall aim .......................................................................................................................................... 4 Project Objectives................................................................................................................................ 4 Expected Results ................................................................................................................................. 4 Key stakeholders and target audience ................................................................................................. 4 Project Activities .................................................................................................................................. 5 Purpose of the evaluation .................................................................................................................... 5 Specific objectives of the evaluation ................................................................................................ 5 Methodology........................................................................................................................................... 5 Evaluation Team .................................................................................................................................. 6 Data processing ................................................................................................................................... 6 Findings................................................................................................................................................... 6 Project Progress and status.................................................................................................................. 6 Jelly Babies trees ............................................................................................................................... 11 Conclusion............................................................................................................................................. 12 Recommendation .................................................................................................................................. 12 Financial and Strategic Planning ..................................................................................................... 13 Income generation and diversification ........................................................................................... 13 Sound Administration and Finance................................................................................................. 13 Reference .............................................................................................................................................. 13 Appendices............................................................................................................................................ 14 A.

Learning Log for Best Practice in Fair Trade Networks ................................................................ 14

B.

Jelly Babies Trees ....................................................................................................................... 14

C.

Staff Surveys .............................................................................................................................. 14

D.

Fair Trade Mini Assessment ....................................................................................................... 14

Executive Summary It is apparent the producers of different commodities face a lot of challenged pertaining to their trade. These challenges border on their lack of capacity to implement their activities, their lack of resources among others. In light of these prevailing ailments, Fair Trade Networks have been strategically formed to create a forum where some of these problems can be dealt with and in turn improve the welfare of the said producers.

In 2013, a project was initiated with the aim of bringing together networks from 3 countries, Malawi Fair Trade Network (MFTN), Rwanda Forum for Alternative Trade (RWAFAT) and Swaziland Fair Trade (SWIFT). The aim of the project was to strengthen three in-country fair trade networks by sharing best practice and lessons learnt, jointly discussing challenges and experiencing new ways of approaching similar issues Several activities were planned for action within and between the networks in line with the realization of the objectives that were set for the project. Among them, Mentoring, Stakeholder engagement and Advisory visits. These were meant to, in the end enhance dialogue and collaboration among networks while at the same time boosting the confidence of network staff to better serve the needs of their network members. In short the project was tailored to build Stronger, More confident, More sustainable networks which ably communicate the benefits of fair trade to their members while at the same time delivering the same to them.

After a period of 2 year with implementation work, there have been some remarkable progress in the networks which have seen them growing and reaping off the fruits of the project. There has been some increase in staff number for some networks, increase in membership for other networks.

During the course of the project, there have been exchange visits geared at offering a platform for learning in a drive towards sustainable fair trade.

It has however been learnt that there is more that needs to be done with developing the skills of staff members for different network to enhance their confidence in engaging members and being able generate more income from multiple sources. More needs to be also in enhancing the knowledge and practice of viable and sustainable projects embracing the key stones of financial sustainability.

Introduction Farmers, craftsmen and other commodity producers face considerable challenges which border on their lack the necessary resources, technical know-how and capacity to improve production and to access markets, leaving them unable to better their standard of living and putting at risk their household food security, their children’s education, or their access to basic healthcare and social services. Fair trade networks were established with the aim of addressing some of these challenges by opening avenues to markets for what smallholders grow, building

direct consumer links and strengthening a local network that can be the platform that represents them and advocates on their behalf with governments and businesses.1 A project was initiated among which was geared at enhancing dialogue and learning among fair trade networks in three southern and eastern African countries of; Rwanda, Malawi and Swaziland. The project has spanned for a period of 2 years dating back from 2013 and it was necessary that the outcomes of such be assessed to see if there have been any meaningful changes, any forums for sharing as well as lessons learnt therein.

Overall aim To strengthen three in-country fair trade networks by sharing best practice and lessons learnt, jointly discussing challenges and experiencing new ways of approaching similar issues

Project Objectives    

To foster dialogue between 3 in-country networks, creating shared understanding and exploring new ideas To promote critical reflection of successes and challenges and in sustaining viable incountry fair trade networks To collaborate on joint activities to allow greater networking and sharing of benefits To build the capacity of staff through learning from successes and failures of techniques and methods employed by others

Expected Results The overall change that this project aimed at was to increase membership of fair trade networks across the three countries, resulting from stronger, more confident and more sustainable in-country support networks that clearly communicate the benefits of fair trade membership and can deliver these to their members. This will ultimately mean more producers and artisans benefitting from better wages and working conditions and generating more household income, which leads to greater social benefits such as school enrolment, accessing healthcare, private insurances and starting saving for future eventualities.

Key stakeholders and target audience The project was designed to target all the relevant stakeholders in the fair trade networks.

These included, government departments, farmers, craftsmen, and network secretariats. Of these, the main beneficiaries were the farmers and producers who are at bottom most level of the networks

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BRANCHING OUT:Fairtrade in Malawi, Monitoring the impact of Fairtrade on five certified organisations, 2013

Project Activities The project was designed in a way that if the intended results were to be achieved, the following set of activities had to be taking place across the networks in the regions:      

Mentoring Critical reflection sessions Stakeholder engagement Attendance at trade fairs Advisory visits Trialling new income generating ideas

Purpose of the evaluation The evaluation was aimed at assessing the extent to which project objectives have been achieved by objectively assessing the project’s relevance and quality of design; effectiveness in the delivery of project interventions and achievement of outcomes; impact on the beneficiaries and sustainability of the interventions.

Specific objectives of the evaluation The specific objectives of the evaluation included the following, to: a) Ascertain the extent to which the project objectives have been achieved including the impact (both intended and unintended) of the interventions on the beneficiaries and the rest of the stakeholders. b) Assess if there are indications or measures for long-term sustainability of the interventions. c) Assess the effectiveness of the partner capacity building initiatives in facilitating the delivery of the project and the extent to which learning and sharing have been fostered in the project implementation d) Assess the extent to which joint activities have been collaborated to allow greater networking and sharing of benefits

Methodology A combination of approaches was used to carry out the evaluation through a participatory and consultative process. In order to collect sufficient impact evaluation information, both primary (network members) and secondary (network secretariat representatives) sources were used to

collect the data required for the evaluation. The study involved conducting a desk review, set checklists, individual network reflections as well as other tools which included the following  

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Jelly babies trees: this is a tool is used for a self-reflection on how the project has fared and the progress made thus far with its underlying justification for the findings Fair trade mini assessment: This was a short questionnaire, also used during the midterm evaluation that is used to measure knowledge and understanding of the concept of fair trade.

Learning logs: these were a set of parameters used to assess the extent to which learning has been embedded in the project. These were done individually by all the participants of the evaluation process Video diaries: these were short recorded videos from a representative of each network where they could talk about whatever aspect of the project they chose.

Staff survey: staff survey were done by all participants and representatives from other networks forwarded the same to their colleagues to fill in.

Evaluation Team The evaluation included the representatives from the three network secretariats: RWAFAT, SWIFT, MFTN. These were accompanied by some representatives from the MFTN which is the in-country network. The evaluation was facilitated by an external.

Data processing From the evaluation process, the huge amount of data that was collected was processed and triangulated with other project documents from the networks. These included, the project logframe, progress reports and previous staff survey reports.

Findings Project Progress and status From its inception, the project had a logical framework from which all progress being made was going to be tracked. The logical framework was designed at a central level for the overall project and it was further required that each country network should contextualize it for use in their network so that it better reflects the reality on the ground.

For the success of each project strict adherence to the programme logic is vital as it highlights the key priority areas that need focus based on the available resources, be it financial or staff capacity.2 It was realized during the evaluation process that the project personnel and the networks were not fully utilizing the set logical framework to ably and effectively monitor the progress made 2

Concepts of Monitoring and Evaluation, 2002, Gills

and the milestones being covered. This, however, did not impede the smooth progress of the project to deliver on the objective that were being worked towards. Instead of the logframe, the networks were using the development plans which were developed annually. Having dissected the progress made towards the indicators and cumulatively from the evaluation mid-way through the project, the following was what found:

Output 1: Improved business support skills amongst staff From the networks, it has been evident that there has been some substantial investment in the skills of its staff more especially in relation to business development and fair trade knowledge.

During the course of the project there have been deliberate efforts to train network staff in strategic management as is the case with MFTN, and other trainer of trainers courses as is the case with RWAFAT. More capacity building initiative have been slated to take place in the coming financial year.

The skills attained through these training have helped with better support for the member organization by the network staff and this has been demonstrated by the confidence shown by the member organization.

In all the networks, we have seen confidence being built through staff representation to external partners and networks. This has emanated from the numerous external visits which took place for staff and board members alike. Greater engagement with members also builds confidence. For example MFTN have now set up a committee of the secretariat and 10 farmer representatives to review on a regular basis the service offered to them.

Output 2: Staff increase knowledge of marketing methods to promote fair trade In the early stages of the project, it was noted that RWAFAT and SWIFT were slacking back on using marketing methods for promoting fair as compared to MFTN which had achieved this well. Later on, it has emerged that with the adoption and piloting of new approaches, within Swaziland SWIFT have made media appearances to discuss fair trade. This has mostly been positive although there has been a down side- in conversations with government stakeholders they have been perceived as an exclusive club which is not always a benefit. In Rwanda fair trade is a little known concept. However RWAFAT has now started to discover shops and other businesses that know and use the concept and this is starting to improve their understanding further.

Understanding better the way the fair trade system works has enabled the networks to refine their marketing messages. For example SWIFT is now referring to ‘products’ rather than handcrafts because this opens them up to a broader range of fairly traded goods that could attract new members. RWAFAT has learnt that the principle of fair trade is at the core of what they are trying to achieve. They will now carry this idea forward as they begin to market services to members.

Output 3: Increased knowledge of successful methods to improve operational and financial sustainability

Sustainable business practices restore environmental quality and build social equity, while increasing long-term profitability. One of the greatest challenges facing nonprofit organizations developing countries is that of obtaining critical funds to carry out the necessary activities to fulfil their mission3. Fair Trade networks like the ones that have been part of the project face the same challenges of sourcing funds to sustain their existences and be able to deliver on their objectives. Fundraising on its own will be deemed irrelevant if is lacking efficient procedures for administration and finances, and fiscal planning in conjunction with strategic planning.

It has been learnt all the networks have been capable of developing strategic plans which have been executed in each successive year of the project. Strategic planning, being the mechanism to help clarify an organization’s mission and objectives as well as prioritize the actions needed to accomplish them, is nothing if there no financial planning to accompany it as it does not adequately take into account the resources an organization has available to implement the chosen strategies, or its capacity to obtain new resources. It is therefore important to engage in a parallel financial planning process that makes it possible to convert the actions described in the strategic plan into figures. This has been evident in the networks in that they have been lacking a concise financial planning which is also meat to guide the organizations in resource mobilization. This said, sustainability in the Fair Trade networks under this project has been affected as most of the networks have not had the mechanisms to acquire funds on their own to carry them through without donor funding. It is only SWIFT which has demonstrated the employment of numerous innovative ways of generating funds to sustain their existence while at the same time adequately supporting member organizations. This has seen them generating up to $37,800 from non-donor sources. Below is an example of the numerous funding sources.

Network MFTN:

Funding sources Membership Fees; Commonwealth foundation & Shared Interest

SWIFT:

Membership fees; Commonwealth; Comic Relief; Shop Income; IMO Income; External training/consulting Income; Translation Support; tailored member service; Sponsorship

RWAFAT:

Membership Fees; Shared Interest; Commonwealth Foundation;

In a drive to introduce new innovative ideas and activities, RWAFAT the biggest innovation has been establishing a staff structure and recruiting a business manager. SWIFT advised on the job description and intended role. RWAFAT will now take advantage of opportunities highlighted to them by the critical reflection process, especially those in the tourism sector.

SWIFT made progress with the registration of a for-profit arm that allows them to sell more 3

http://www.wfto.com/sites/default/files/10-FAIR-TRADE-PRINCIPLES-2013-%28Rio-AGM-and-EGM-2013approved-modifications%29.pdf

services to fund the ongoing work of the NGO. The MFTN co-ordinator has now started actively pursuing new partnerships and proposing project ideas, one such idea is being developed with Shared Interest Foundation as a result of the new relationship formed through this project.  Level of staff confidence in discussing and implementing new ideas and methods All networks carried out a short exercise showing an improvement in their levels of confidence (see appendix A). The learning logs and video diaries also show shifts in staff confidence as they discuss plans for their network with greater clarity and purpose. An example excerpt from a learning log shows how the participants are using the process to reflect on their own services

‘I do think it is imperative that we bring back our focus on our members and the communications and services we offer to them – as we are only as strong as our members’.

Output 4: In-country network staff understand their role in driving the organisation forward for the benefit of the membership As it is evidenced from appendix B, network staff and members alike were able to express themselves in articulating their roles in supporting member organization and also in the way they can sustain the operations of their own networks 1. Progress towards short term outcomes Again these outcomes have been incremental and here we are reporting on progress to date.

The project is tracking an individual log-frame for each network to chart progress, here the responses are amalgamated to give a general picture.

Short term outcome 1: Improved delivery of membership support services

Staff knowledge of fair trade The table below gives a summary of progress as assessed through a fair trade mini learning assessment.

Knowledge and understanding of fair trade Network Baseline level End of year 1 RWAFAT Very low – heard of Basic knowledge now in main concepts place, aware of WFTO principles and introduced to Fairtrade International system

SWIFT

Reasonable level, good understanding of WFTO principles

Vast improvement, now good general understanding of Fairtrade

End of year 2 High confidence in talking about Fair Trade and its concepts and even the ability to sway potential members into the network Has shown excellent skills in business development, general

International, system of certification and actors working in Africa. Now able to reflect on how they track their own members for compliance

MFTN

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Good level, able to articulate to external stakeholders

Strong on Fairtrade International system and good understanding of WFTO networks. Looking at opportunities for new products

understanding of Fairtrade International, system of certification and actors working in Africa. Now able to engage with more partners to enhance service delivery Very eloquent in describing the concepts of Fair Trade and the need to have the networks in sharing experiences and learning to enhance service delivery

# and value of projects run Apart from SWIFT, which has been seen to employ different innovations to increase its financial resource base, the values of the projects from other network is yet to be quantified. So far SWIFT is on record to reach $40,000 from all its sources. The other networks have not been engaged in any major projects apart from the current on for Shared Interest Foundation Geographical spread of the three memberships remains the same.

Short term outcome 2: Country network staff better promote fair trade membership and their own organisation’s role  % increase in membership enquiries: there has been a drop in the membership figures for RWAFAT across the project life span of the project. On the other hand SWIFT has had a significant growth reflected from the 47 current members with others still enquiring for membership.  Coverage in local and national media: There has been clear evidence for engagement with the media for recognition and coverage of the activities being carried out by the networks as seen below: o o o 

SWIFT has focused on Newspaper, Radio & TV for recruitment; In addition advert in South African magazine – MFTN – Fair Trade Breakfasts – invited media to document; in the papers once – TV, Radio & Newspaper /Print. – RWAFAT – Fair Trade Businesses – online media video

Government and other key stakeholder recognition. This indicator has been quite key for overall project success. This year SWIFT have moved their level of recognition on from being invited to attend events and learn, to being seen by the government as experts and asked to help co-ordinate government task forces. They have been involved in the Handcraft Task Force to solve the problem of low incomes for producers working closely with the Prime Minister’s Office. They have also been having regular meetings with the

Ministry of Commerce & Handcraft Department. In addition to that, they also engaged in meetings with Swaziland Investment Promotions Authority. AGOA & the GSP. In Malawi MFTN retain their strong position as the recognised fair trade network but they slipped back during the first year slightly on their levels of contact due to staff changes.

They have however been able to pull up during the final year even with the prevailing staff challenges. The Government is aware of the network and has so far invited to 2 Fair Trade breakfasts to engage with the network. The challenge which still prevails. The network has been involved the export strategy development. In Rwanda the concept of fair trade has been mentioned in government papers and strategies, which shows increasing RWAFAT’s visibility. Apart from this, they have been often in contact with the authorities to organize events/trade events and this has given them an gives an opportunity to share the message of Fair Trade

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Increased advocacy and lobbying to influence policy This is very much linked to the indicator above. SWIFT are beginning to advocate for small and micro businesses and have already seen the government ease registration requirements for start-ups. MFTN have to decide what they now wish to advocate for as their primary aim, to get fair trade recognised as part of the national export strategy, has been achieved.

Short term outcome 3 and 4: Increased staff confidence to trial new ideas  Quality of development plans. Following the critical reflection mid-way through the project, each network has been able to develop a comprehensive development plan to guide them. This was created with insights from the other networks and facilitation from an external consultant. The plans set out in detail how the network plans to develop over the next few years and what activities they will deliver to do this. This has not been reviewed to see how far these development plans have been in use.  Level of staff interaction with other networks Interaction within the networks has been good but could even be better enhanced between them. There have been exchange visits where learning has been encouraged, evidence of email communication and more dialogue.  Level of individual staff confidence There have been improvements in staff confidence but this has been affected by staff changes and new staff becoming involved with the project. Staff surveys also reveal some mixed results. Whilst the direct business development staff were reasonably confident at the baseline and remain so, the nonadvisory staff were very confident at the beginning and have since seen a decrease. This may be due to an initial over-confidence and a realisation as the project progresses of the detail of the issues being discussed.

Jelly Babies trees From the Jelly babies tree reflection which was done for each network, it has shown that there is great confidence of progress among the network as there have been more activity signifying growth and scale.

RWAFAT has benefited a great support of Shared Interest and common wealth foundation project out of the meeting for Dialogue and Learning amongst fair trade networks held in Kigali.

This situation has changed for RWAFAT it has been active by delivering services to its members such as training and facilitation in attending trade shows on different levels yet the organization still have a lot of things to do in order to reach out its goals for long sustainability that could be identified by the green line below twigs of tree and make stronger the network also its organizational structure as shown in the attached appendix.

The notion and sentiment also apply to the other networks where there have been some tremendous growth trends enhanced by the learning and dialogue.

Conclusion The Fair Trade Network project which was designed to enhance the level of engagement and collaboration between producers and ably open up market access has seen some major shifts taking place resulting from the endless efforts of the steering members of the networks and the unwavering patience and support from the beneficially . There has been some substantial increase in dialogue, sharing of lessons as well as learning of good fair trade practices to further serve the needs of the member organizations.

In addition to this, there has been some increase in membership of fair trade networks across the two countries with the exception of Rwanda. This has been attributed to the stronger, more confident and more sustainable in-country support networks that have clearly been communicating the benefits of fair trade membership and have been ably delivering the same to their members.

The project has not gone without its negative side from which more efforts need to be employed for learning and advancement of future projects. In this line, there has been a felt need that network staff should be trained more on project management, business development and financial planning if sustainability of fair trade is to be upheld.

Recommendation Learning from the progress made thus far it is imperative that the networks take onboard the following recommendations: 

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Rigorous efforts should be employed in investing more in the staff skills more especially the realm of project management, monitoring and evaluation, financial planning to better capacitate them for efficient operation of the networks and effective support to member organizations.

Sustainability in relation to fair trade should be the driving force for any intervention that the networks plan to carry out. There are three arms of sustainability which have to be considered in the designing and developing any of the projects:

Financial and Strategic Planning Strategic planning is the mechanism to help clarify an organization’s mission and objectives as well as prioritize the actions needed to accomplish them. It is important to engage in a parallel financial planning process that makes it possible to convert the actions described in the strategic plan into figures. This basically consists of projected expenditures and the organization’s potential to generate the income to cover those expenditures. 4

Income generation and diversification The other pillar of financial sustainability is income generation and diversification of the same, referring not only to internal income generation, but also to the number of income sources that provide our main funding. Funding can come from different sources depending on the niche an organization has coupled with the context it is operating in. primarily, an organization should be innovative enough to design activities that can generate income. These can be in form of service provision as borrowed from SWIFT of Swaziland which has been able to offer some tailor made services to its clients and in so doing earning funds for operations. Funds can also be generated from the sale of various value added products or conducting auctions for various commodities. Proposal writing to potential funding entities is another way of sourcing funds. It is essential that several proposals be done at the same time just to widen the probability of success. What is prime in this, is that there has to be innovation and the charisma to think of viable business ventures.

Sound Administration and Finance Knowing how to manage our resources is as essential to achieving financial sustainability as knowing how to generate income. Efficient procedures for administration and finances are governed by a series of institutional policies that help us make the most of our resources and ensure transparency in fiscal management. Moreover, these procedures must enable us to anticipate the organization’s financial standing and ultimately, make appropriate decisions in a timely manner. Efficient procedures also allow us to generate income through the financial management of available assets. These procedures should be guiding principles to help an organization to be transparent and accountable to all its relevant stakeholders

Reference 

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BRANCHING OUT:Fairtrade in Malawi, Monitoring the impact of Fairtrade on five certified organisations

FOUR PILLARS OF FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY, Copyright © 2001 by The Nature Conservancy, Arlington, Virginia, USA. All rights reserved

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http://www.wfto.com/sites/default/files/10-FAIR-TRADE-PRINCIPLES-2013-%28Rio-AGM-andEGM-2013-approved-modifications%29.pdf Concepts of Monitoring and Evaluation, 2002, Gills FOUR PILLARS OF FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY, Copyright © 2001 by The Nature Conservancy, Arlington, Virginia, USA. All rights reserved Fair trade Annual Project report, 2014

Appendices A. Learning Log for Best Practice in Fair Trade Networks See attached

B. Jelly Babies Trees See attached

C. Staff Surveys See attached for all individual surveys

D. Fair Trade Mini Assessment See attached for individual assessments