A look at the feasibility of ecommerce for Nepal's largest fairtrade organization.

1. +
ICTs in Fair Trade
Association for Craft Producers
Kathmandu, Nepal

2. +
Overview
n Who is Association for Craft Producers (ACP)
n A few facts on Kathmandu
n Initial plan
n What changed
n What was accomplished
n Takeaway

3. +
Who is ACP?

4. +
1200 artisans
90% women (primarily illiterate)
22 skill categories

5. +
3 Product Designers
(with degrees in painting)

6. +
Local sales at Dhukuti
Export to 18 countries

7. +
Kathmandu, Nepal
$525 GDP
Nepal population 30 million
- Kathmandu 1.75 million

8. Who turned out the lights?

9. +
Load shedding schedule
4 -18 hours daily without power

10. +
Streets signs? Nope, only landmarks

11. +
67 ethnic classes & 4 main castes
Who defines progress?

12. +
The Initial plan
(what I thought I was doing in Nepal)
Surveying Fair
Trade Retailers
1 month
in the US
Feasibility of
ecommerce at ACP
2 months
in Nepal

13. Is the problem
reaching the market…
No!
So what was overlooked?
Context of
the problem

14. +
Educated Leave Nepal
I couldn’t help with this one
n Three vacancies at ACP in management
n 1.9 million absent population
n Diaspora remittance is 20% of GDP

15. +
The sustainability of consultants
We are here to help…really?
One year = 9 consultants +1 advisor

16. +
New plan
What could be managed with existing resources?
Integrating
technology into
existing systems &
communications
Education in
creating new
technology systems
and focus on
consistency
Keeping in mind…

17. +
Nepal is Collectivist &
Hierarchical Culture…
this impacts their
view of technology

18. +
Internal Communication
Email
Can you
Put that in
Writing?
लिखना

19. +
Market Research
& Active Sales
US Surveys results
- Growth in FT in last
10 years
- LOHAS 280 billion
dollar market
- How retailers use
internet
Move to Strategic Approach
& understanding the FT market

20. +Client Communication, Product Promotion
and a dash of social media
EMAIL MARKETING
- Consistent contact
with clients
ACROBAT
- Bookmarking PDFs
INTERACTIVE MEDIA
- Linking to existing
media online
FACEBOOK
- New collections
- Customer satisfaction
- News

21. +
Logo inconsistencies
cers
1984
Association for Craft Producers

22. +
Existing logo degradation
Original Logo Degraded digitized logo

23. +
n Reworking a system:
- Rebrand and promote
n Logo represents
- rich history of craft tradition
Brand concept
Bhaktapur gate

24. +
Rebrand
Association for
Craft Producers
x:tsnf pTkfbs ;+3

25. +
Campaigns
n Campaigns to promote
existing initiatives

26. +
A few lessons to consider
n The internet is an experience
dependent on context
- 4 days with no internet
- 256kb connection

27. + No Intellectual Property,
sounds nice right?
- A Nepali IP is bad news
- Fear of designs being stolen

28. +
Adobe offers software grants
to China, Romania and India
but not Nepal

29. Whats next
§ Design Education &
capacity building
§ How to sustain
heritage & progress

30. +
Questions?