EC Contract Number ONG-PVD/2005/112- 454 Making Trade Work for the Poor Promoting Fair Trade in India - PROFIT End of Project Evaluation February 2006 - February 2010 Submitted by: Paro Chaujar EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................................................... 3 ABOUT PROFIT ............................................................................................................................................... 5 TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR THE EVALUATION ........................................................................................... 5 METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................................................................ 6 FEW WORDS ABOUT THIS REPORT ................................................................................................................. 6 1. OVERVIEW .................................................................................................................................. 7 2. RELEVANCE............................................................................................................................... 10 3. EFFICIENCY AND EFFECTIVENESS .................................................................................... 19 4. SUSTAINABILITY .................................................................................................................... 36 5. LESSONS LEARNED – PRACTICES AND STRATEGIES .................................................. 36 6. RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................................................................ 39 ANNEX 1: LIST OF RESPONDENTS ............................................................................................................... 44 ANNEX 2: LABEL AND LOGO ......................................................................................................................... 45 ANNEX 3: MEDIA AND PR COVERAGE ........................................................................................................ 46 ANNEX 4: CERTIFIED PRODUCTS ................................................................................................................. 49 ANNEX 5: CERTIFIED FARMER ORGANISATIONS ...................................................................................... 50 ANNEX 6: LICENSED RETAILERS / BUYERS ................................... ERROR ! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED . ANNEX 7: ACHIEVEMENTS AGAINST SET OBJECTIVES AND EXPECTED RESULTS ................................. 51 ANNEX 8: PROJECT MILESTONES ................................................................................................................ 57 Executive Summary This is a report on the end of project evaluation of the project titled PROFIT- Making Trade Work for the Poor: Promoting Fair Trade in India – which was implemented by Traidcraft Exchange and International Resources for Fairer Trade (IRFT). The 4 - year project ended in April 2010. The field-work for this end of project evaluation was conducted between December 2009 and February 2010. Having assessed PROFIT in its evolution over the past 4 years, it is the opinion of the evaluator that the project has proven to be a groundbreaking initiative that has laid the foundations for the promotion of fair trade in the domestic market in India. Following are the major achievements at the end of the project: The project has been guided and developed by multiple stakeholders and has resulted in the creation and establishment of an autonomous labeling and not for profit certification company called Shop for Change Fair Trade . A label called Shop for Change and its certification system has been developed, tested and implemented. A set of generic standards for agricultural supply chains have been developed and applied. 3 producer organisations and approximately 5,300 farmers producing cotton and cotton intercrops from 4 states in India have been certified ; 2 buyers/ retailers have been licensed to use the Shop for Change label and The first sets of end products – T-shirts and high-end women’s wear - manufactured by using cotton from certified producer organisations, have been launched in the Indian markets. The media has taken interest in and have started reporting on developments of the initiative, in particular, launch of the first set of Shop for Change certified products was widely reported. 2 celebrities have endorsed the initiative (Shop for Change) and have participated in press meet (at the product launch); one of them has traveled to the project area and profiled cotton farmers through photography and exhibited the same at a festival of arts in Mumbai. At least 5 large retail chains have expressed interest in collaborating with the initiative and purchasing Shop for Change certified cotton. The evolution and progress of the project has several important lessons for the fair trade sector in general and for the promoters of fair trade within markets in the developing countries, especially in the case of a country such as India with diversity in production, geography, people – producers, buyers, consumers and markets. Also, central to this project was the aim of impacting poverty- making trade work for poor. This project has a somewhat humbling effect on our visions and ambitions - in that it has demonstrated that in the first place introducing fair trade within domestic markets – establishing the basis for it – setting standards, labels, certification, mobilizing producers and buyers- takes time. The project has demonstrated relevance to the Indian context, where there has been a gap in promoting fair trade in the domestic market and where there is tremendous scope for the same. It has been very successful in establishing an Indian set of standards and systems for labeling and certification. The first 4 years of this project should be looked upon as pilot phase, where several ideas and strategies have been discussed, developed, adopted, modified and implemented. There have been several challenges, not the least of which arise from the fact that such an initiative is unprecedented in India. The civil society and business in India are (relatively) new to this concept and have hardly any experience with fair trade in the Indian market. The project was committed to a multidisciplinary approach, which has served well in the sense of providing overall direction. The approach has been challenging and continues to be so, given the diversity of stakeholders, interests and the continuing experimenting and learning by all involved. As this report is being completed, the initiative, now, Shop for Change, is a label and logo displayed at over 60 retail outlets across several cities in India. A growing consumer awareness is on the anvil and business case for retailers ad producers is just about getting demonstrated. It will be a while to see the impacts of such an initiative on income and poverty levels of the producers it seeks to work with but, as this report indicates, the stage is set for achieving those objectives over the next few years. Introduction About PROFIT Making Trade Work for the Poor: Promoting Fair Trade in India - PROFIT, was conceived as a multistakeholder initiative to introduce fair trade within the domestic market in India, with the objective of empowering poor farmers and artisans in the country. Conceptualised by Traidcraft Exchange, primary applicant, in partnership with local implementing partner International Resources for Fairer Trade (IRFT), the project was financed by the European Commission for a period of three years, February 2006 – February 2009. The project was subsequently granted 2 no-cost extensions and is now ending in April 2010. This end of project evaluation covers the project period February 2006 - January 2010. The most significant outcome of PROFIT has been the establishment of an autonomous labeling and certification organization called Shop for Change Fair Trade, in July 2008 (although the organization was staffed and functioning in 2008, it was formally incorporated in January 2009). Thereafter, many activities under PROFIT were implemented by Shop for Change. This evaluation has therefore covered activities implemented by both organisations, IRFT and Shop for Change. Terms of Reference for the Evaluation The objectives of the end of project evaluation were: • To assess the extent to which the project met the aims and objectives as set out in the proposal log-frame. • To evaluate the methodology and design of the project from the point of relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, impact and sustainability. • To help Traidcraft Exchange, IRFT and SFC better understand which practices and intervention strategies work best and bring about change, so to help them learn lessons that will help achieve better impact in the future. The focus of the evaluation was to make an objective external assessment about the: • Relevance, • Efficiency (implementation of the project against the log-frame), • Effectiveness, • Impact and • Sustainability: What has been achieved, what hasn’t, and key factors for success or failure both through desk research and field research. Methodology The evaluation is based primarily on qualitative methods. Quantitative methods were applied for assessing deliverables and outcomes against baseline/ logframe indicators. Qualitative methods were applied to assess relevance, effectiveness, impact and sustainability. Secondary data such as those