- Market Access . Pekerti acts as a bridge between underprivileged people in Indonesia and people overseas who wish to support them through the buying and selling of Fair Trade products. Pekerti provides assistance to the producers to market their goods domestically as well as services in export marketing, which cannot be done by the producers themselves. Through Pekerti Nusantara Company, we manages sales and export of our producers’ fair trade handicrafts. With our experience of more than 40 years, Pekerti has exported a massive range of handicraft products all over the world. From furniture, home decorations, office equipment, through to leather accessories and silver jewellery, our products have been sold in Europe, America, Canada, Japan, New Zealand and Australia.
- Training is aimed to increase producers’s skill and capacity. Pekerti specialises as a business service provider to the craft industry, and this encompasses training in all aspects of production, product design and market access. Training and awareness raising also focuses on implementation of fair trade principles, especially gender and health and safety in the workplace. Other recent trainings have been on copyright law, use of non-toxic dyes and paints, and testing for nickel. Pekerti helps disadvantaged rural artisans to upgrade their production, business and marketing skills. To accomplish its goals, Pekerti Nusantara stresses quality control, training and working together cooperatively.
- Capital Access
- Pekerti provides a 50% down payment to producers before production begins.
- Producers can also access two loan types:
- One is a revolving loan scheme with zero interest to help invest in equipment or workshop renovations that will help to increase their quality and capacity of production and working conditions. This is Pekerti and some buyer funded and it’s limited availability.
- The other is through KOPERTI a saving and loan co-op which offer a low interest loan and easy to access compared to commercial bank.
- Providing Social Program for producers to help protect during times of sickness, accident and children’s education. This includes :
- Insurance for any accident at work for producers and their staff. This covers death, permanent disability and therapy.
- Scholarship for producer’s children (elementery to senior high school).
- Emergency Aid and Economic support for Disaster Survivors including basic need aid, funding, housing, development programs to rebuild businesses, business training and market access.
- Having permanent contact with producers through regular visit. Field visits are used to conduct monitoring of producers’ use of the 10 Standards of Fair Trade and to determine where this can be improved through additional training and support. It’s also to share problem solving on production process and quality control.
- Helping raise awareness of fair trade through a variety promotion:
- World Fair Trade Day Celebration, that conducted in every second week of May
- Environmental campaign through re-planting program in Pekerti’s land and producer’s land. Pekerti also launched a tree planting program through “a tree for US$ 1,500 turnover of handicraft sales
- Fair Trade training and gender training.
- Fair Trade introduction to students.
- Regular Bazaar. Pekerti promoted Fair Trade movement through bazaar of Fair Trade Products that was aimed to introduce Fair Trade Products to the community and local Pekerti’s network in Jakarta and also to further expand awareness and knowledge of the communities around Pekerti about Fair Trade. Through this bazaar, Pekerti also distribute bookmarks with 10 Fair Trade principles content.