Women’s Cooperative Reinvents Traditional Craftmaking
Economic changes in Serbia, including structural adjustment and privatization policies, have led to dramatic increases in poverty and insecurity for poor women. In the northern town of Kikinda for example, where more than 10,000 unemployed people have registered with the employment agency, women constitute half of the unemployed population.
Despite numerous efforts by women to secure self-employment opportunities, their needs have been increasingly marginalized, leading to the expansion of home-based work and forcing them to seek supplementary jobs to earn additional income. When a group of Kikinda women, long-time workers at Kikinda's Livnica foundry, were made redundant during the privatization process, they were determined not to give up. One of them, Milka Gavrancic, suggested that they respond to this challenge by banding together to perform what was typically considered women's handiwork: weaving, knitting, crocheting, and embroidery.
In February 2003, a group of 20 women thus joined together to form the Unikat association, which gathers female artisans and handicraft producers from the municipality - primarily refugees and displaced women, single mothers, and low income and unemployed local women. The number of members is expected to increase by 50 by the end of 2005.
"We are aware how difficult it is to find a job at our age. A few of us that shared the common goal of seeking new employment initially got together and decided to do something with our hands. Originally, we established an association of female artisans in Kikinda and began finding a way out for ourselves. Later on, the cooperative Unikat was registered," says Marija Bugarski, an economic technician by education, who worked for 24 years in the finance department
of the foundry.
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| Sladjana Janic, youngest member of the crafts cooperative, works with equipment provided by the American people through CRDA |
In order to advocate for their interests and raise public awareness of the issues concerning network members, these home-based artisans took the initiative to establish the association as a tool for organizing exhibitions, preparing brochures and informational material, and networking with other partner organizations. In addition to education and technical assistance, the network
has also established a specialized cooperative that enables members to market products jointly and sign contracts with buyers. The marketing cooperative additionally serves as a vehicle to supply its members with market data and contacts, micro-credit and funding sources, and modern production technology.
Through its implementing partner the America's Development Foundation (ADF), USAID's Community Revitalization through Democratic Action program (CRDA) assisted the members in organizing the modern marketing cooperative, and subsequently provided a workstation, laser printer, six weaving looms, and six sewing machines. The equipment will actively be used by cooperative members, who will work in two shifts in order to utilize the full capacity of equipment and produce a variety of handiwork to be marketed through the cooperative. The new equipment will also allow them to train new members.
Through the marketing cooperative, members will be able to expand production and include non-member contract producers involved with similar crafts in order to supply local buyers. The comprehensive portfolio of products and services provided by the cooperative will contribute to the long-term goal of developing a trademark for products of folk/ethnic origin, targeting both
domestic and international markets.
By securing the sale of its members' products, the artisans have now doubled their sales income, and by marketing their products jointly through the cooperative, have gained access to new markets and in turn, furthered increased their revenues. And since the cooperative purchases raw materials at wholesale prices, artisan-members also have reduced their production costs by 30%.
Over the last two years, these diligent Kikinda women have promoted and sold their handiwork at different exhibitions, with great recognition, including an award at the 5th Kikinda SME fair EXPO, held in November 2004, for reviving and preserving old and forgotten crafts, and a letter of commendation from the Kikinda municipal assembly for their direct contribution to the development of the local community and entrepreneurship in the area.
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