Bali, May 2010. As a FT100 organization, Pekerti is constantly creating programs to enhance the capacity of its producers. Efforts to increase capacity is a stated requirement of all Fair Trade organisations in the 10 principles upon which the Fair Trade system is based, and which is strictly followed by Pekerti.

26 producers from eight groups of producers from Bali and Lombok participated in the training series at the Nusa Indah Puri Hotel, Sanur, Bali. The training included materials about Fair Trade, gender equality, administration and quality control, and was carried out in early May 2010.

“It’s useful for me to know about Fair Trade and gender. Administration is difficult for me to understand,” Said Ni Komang Rullyawati from Tantri Keramik.

Ida Bagus Kusuma Dinata of Dinata, Tampakisiring, commented: “The training was very good for helping us to improve our skills, and for giving us the opportunity to meet and share stories with other producers.”

The training aimed to increase Pekerti’s producers’ knowledge about Fair Trade including Gender and producers’ skills in administration and quality control for their businesses. Training was deliberately held on Bali to focus on capacity building Pekerti’s producers who are in Bali and Lombok, who had not yet been trained.

“It was important for us to come to Bali for training, which has not yet been provided for these producers, and also in preparation for Sustainable Fair Trade Management System (SFTMS),” said Nur, Pekerti’s Community Development staff.

“We are not addressing all Fair Trade principles in depth here, just the five principles which are a priority for these producers to be reinforced – transparency and responsibility, capacity-building, fair pay, appropriate working conditions and environmental responsibility,” she said later.

The producers were enthusiastic and active in following each session either in a group discussion or questions posed by producers and facilitated by Pekerti’s staff. Given the limited time available, facilitators were concerned with material on the five principles of Fair Trade only, although they used the 10 principles in order to convey to all artisans ‘what is Fair Trade’.

In this training series Pekerti also held socialization of SFTMS. Since the beginning of 2010 Pekerti has been preparing to follow SFTMS assessment in order to gain certification of Fair Trade organization. Socialization is necessary because producers are responsible for following SFTMS guidelines, and therefore need guidance and understanding about how to apply the standards required.

This training series ended with a celebration of World Fair Trade Day (WFTD) 2010 with the planting of 300 albasia trees in a field in Tampaksiring, Bali on 8 May 2010 which was attended by all trainees. In this event Pekerti was honored with the presence of keynote speaker I Made Suarnatha of environmental protection agency Wisnu Foundation, Bali.