Cluster Development by Cluster Pulse

Cluster Pulse helped 16 Afghan carpet exporters, who purchase from or employ 21,000 weavers, to form three exporter consortia. Export sales in the first year were $350,000. This was just one of many initiatives.

Cluster Pulse is an NGO affiliated with the Global Network Group India, the Global Network Institute, and Exportfundas, all founded by a social entrepreneur in 2000. Cluster Pulse facilitates small exporter consortia and helps them reach specific global markets by initiating a pilot cluster in a sector or country with donor funds (for example CIDA, UNIDO, or USAID). It then supports imitators who form similar consortia by purchasing consulting services and joining the global network. Since 2000, Cluster Pulse and its affiliated consulting and training firms have worked in 6 sectors to support 63 export consortia or clusters. Each consortium includes an independent facilitator hired on commission to help market the consortium. Results include:

• Training of some 11,500 exporters;
• Forming of 15 consortia with donor funds and 48 self-funded consortia;
• Exporters’ savings of $19 million through bulk purchasing, generating export orders of $162 million and recovering $7.5 million in bad debt through joint action.

In some cases, sales benefit exporter-producers and their employees; in other situations, large numbers of small-scale producers stand to gain.

For more information, see www.ClusterPulse.org, www.exportfundas.com, www.globalnetworkindia.com, www.gninstitute.com, and www.iitfglobal.com.