Strengthening export development services for Paraguayan producers of handicrafts

The Paraguayan handicrafts sector has more than 40,000 producers, predominantly from rural regions and includes also women and indigenous people. To promote this sector, the Instituto Paraguayo de Artesanías (Paraguayan Institute of Handicrafts, IPA) has articulated a comprehensive strategy and as part of this strategy, the IPA requested support for the design of an export development training course, as well as a summary of policies and programs tailored to the needs of handicraft producers.

For this project, the Globally Cool team conducted an export readiness training, particularly for companies led by women, indigenous people or other under-represented groups. We also delivered a Training of Trainers programme, and a summary of good practices for the export promotion of handicrafts.

Activities

We delivered a virtual training on export readiness for the handicraft sector and this included the following export readiness topics: 

• Export basics and developing an export strategy
• Logistics and distribution channels
• Corporate Social Responsibility
• Mandatory requirements
• Voluntary requirements
• Use of FTAs
• (Virtual) trade fair participation
• The company website
• Digital marketing strategy

We also included three Training of Trainers sessions to a group of future trainers from the IPA and other officials from other Paraguayan institutions that can potentially deliver this training or parts of it to increase the export capacity of handicraft producers. To conclude, we delivered a summary of good practices to foster the exports of handicrafts that could be implemented in Paraguay.

Results

In total, 29 participants (22 females, 7 males) were trained as future trainers, receiving not only the training related to export readiness but also soft skills for effective training delivery. In addition, 16 participants (9 females, 7 males) including artisan and handicraft collectives and companies participated directly in the training sessions.

A summary of good practices to foster the exports of handicrafts that could be implemented in Paraguay was also delivered. It included detailed information on how other countries are fostering the exports of handicrafts, especially those produced by marginalized groups, including women- and indigenous-led businesses.