Bead for Life The Impact on Ugandan Communities Seonag Doherty, Mackenna Bowles, & Kelci Reyes-Brannon

Background Uganda is a small African country (size of Oregon) Endowed with abundant natural resources, thought to have ability to feed all of Africa if not for political and economic challenges Corruption Perception Index of 2.4 (transparency int’l) Among world’s poorest nations and has high population growth rates

Ugandan Economy Per capita GDP $1300 in 2011 Agriculture accounts for 80% of the workforce Uneven distribution of wealth between trade partners Export cash crops & import capital- intensive goods

Health & Equality Disparity between men’s and women’s rights, wages, and training Illnesses plague the country and Uganda has witnessed an influx in HIV/AIDS Women are unable to treat their families and are at risk for these incurable diseases

Fair Trade Empowering workers to receive fair price & profit for their goods Fair Trade movement – Market Based Approach Creates living wage Improves health & working conditions Increased opportunity for habitable housing

Bead for Life Focuses efforts on Ugandan women Nurtures Independence Education Opportunities Sustainable Community Development

Beading Process

Motivation To gain a broader understanding of fair trade and its effects on Ugandan Artisans through research on a particular organization To observe the effects free trade can have on women’s rights and empowering women To determine if Bead for Life directly improves the quality of life for the communities it serves To better understand how the dissemination of goods but more importantly ideas effect women in Beads for Life communities Observe and analyze how one specific fair trade organization effects these women in Ugandan communities

Literature Review Beads for Life World Fair Trade Organization Dutch Association of Worldshops International Fair Trade Association Women’s Health UNICEF “Artisans and Fair Trade: Crafting Development” by Litrell and Dickson

Theoretical Background Factor Endowment Theory The Heckscher-Ohlin model is based on the theory of comparative advantage Predicts trade patterns based on the region’s factor endowments Countries will export products that use their abundant factors of production and import products that use the countries’ scarce factors Uganda has abundant cheap labor. Exports cash crops and labor intensive goods (such as the Bead for Life jewelry)

Comparative Advantage Ability of a country to produce a good at a lower opportunity cost Even if one country is more efficient at producing all goods both countries will still gain by trading

Inter-Industry Trade Trade between countries where exports and imports consist of different types of goods Countries export goods where they have a large amount of the factors used in producing them Based on differences in factor endowments

Analysis 99% of members said life has improved since they joined BeadforLife Income of the respondents went from $30-$50 a month before joining BeadforLife, to an average of $227 a month in 2007 Over 90% of members report that their diet, health and housing situations have improved during their membership in BeadforLife 77% of the children who live with the beaders are enrolled in school. Beadforlife evaluation summary 2005

Analysis

Awata Margaret

Analysis These statistics represent a very very small portion of the overall population Allows for policy upkeep Artisan work is extremely different from agricultural work Prices Individual

Conclusions Does fair trade contribute to the welfare of the Ugandan communities involved in Bead for Life? Does Bead for Life empower the women involved in the program? How does the money from Bead for Life benefit the Ugandan communities involved? Do the organizations create new opportunities for the artisans to develop skills outside of their traditional craft? How does Bead for Life affect the overall living standard for the artisans?