Guatemala Craft Sector Export Initiative

In 4 years and under $600,000, AGEXPRONT, an exporters’ association, helped stem the decline in craft exports, and increase the purchases made from an estimated 8,900 artisans, 75% of whom are women.

The USAID-funded GCSEI ran from 2003-2006. Its aim was to strengthen the Guatemalan craft sector by assisting exporters in gaining access to international markets, which are larger and higher in value than local markets, and offer more potential to provide sales and income to the large numbers of microenterprise crafts producers. The program worked hand-in hand with AGEXPRONT, the association of non traditional exporters, to build its capacity to facilitate long-term change in the market.
Together, they:

• Strengthened the capacity of Guatemalan exporters to attract export orders through trade show participation.
• Attracted buyers to Guatemala through “buyer visits”. The project facilitated these visits and subsidized the airfare for one trip per buyer. AGEXPRONT offsets these and related costs by charging a 2.5% commission on all sales that they help facilitate.
• Hosted Guatemalan trade shows.

Once pilot initiatives showed success, AGEXPRONT stimulated wider adoption through strengthening its library and ICT information services, and by hosting seminars and events such as a design “congress” that attracted higher-level Guatemalan designers and additional wholesalers and exporters into the initiatives. At a project cost of about $800,000, the following results were achieved:

• Stabilization of Guatemalan craft export sales from an average annual decline of 30% to an annual growth rate of 7%.
• Export sales generation of $1.53 million (over 3 years) by exporters affiliated with AGEXPRONT.
• Increased purchases made from an estimated 8,900 artisans, 75% of whom are women.