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The Market
Sector Assessment that Altai did for the AWBF was funded by
CIPE (Center for International Private Enterprise). I
believe that their funding comes from USAID, but this would
have to confirmed with CIPE directly. The project lasted 3.5
months, starting in December 2005 and ending in March 2006.
The goal of the project was to provide actionable and
concrete information to help Afghan women entrepreneurs
adapt their production to the international market. The
project focused on three sectors of handicrafts: jewelry,
textiles, and furniture/decorative arts. Research for the
project can be broken down into two main categories:
secondary research and primary research. We used WTO
databases, UN and World Bank statistics, amongst other
sources, to provide a picture of the international market
for products in these three sectors. We also used secondary
research to come to understand the national and
international markets, productivity capacity, and
competitors. For the primary research we contacted over 300
individuals both nationally and internationally: 235
international retailers, importers, and wholesalers in North
America, Europe, and Asia; 60 producers in Afghanistan and
Pakistan; 230 NGOs working with Afghan handicraft producers;
and numerous ministers, finance agencies, shipping
companies, etc. Our work within Afghanistan included
research in the following provinces: Balkh , Bamyan, Ghazni,
Herat , JawzJan, Kabul , Kandahar , and Parwan, with a trip
to Pakistan to interview Afghan refugees working in
handicrafts. In the end, the four presentations given over a
span of two days at the Sham-e-Paris provided strategic
recommendations on positioning for Afghan handicraft
producers and provided a roadmap for the AWBF for how they
can help women reach the international market. The
presentations also included an analysis of trends, quality
standards, branding, value-chain analysis, a map of the
international and national markets for such products,
analysis of the potential for Afghan products
internationally, and much more.
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