15 October 2009

Tejutla, Guatemala: Online volunteers harnessed by a UNV volunteer are improving the lives of small farmers by helping them make the sale.

As a UNV volunteer Business Development Intern working for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Guatemala, Francesco Bailo’s role is to assist peasant associations in the department of San Marcos and Huehuetenango.

The global economic crisis particularly affects small-scale farms in rural areas, where 70 percent of the world's hungry live. Fransesco Bailo's assignment, which is fully funded by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, involves improving the living conditions of communities in remote rural areas such as the Altiplano Marquense. Here 97.7 percent of the population ilives in poverty, and 85.4 percent in extreme poverty.

Mr. Bailo explains his vision. “The Internet can change perspectives, as it has no centre or periphery,” he says. “Access to mobile phone and Internet services is already a reality for many poor communities of the Altiplano Marquense.” The Italian national is using this trend to connect people to outside expertise.

Through the UNV Online Volunteering service website, the UNV volunteer helped build a direct link between two rural associations of the Altiplano and online volunteers from 15 different countries on five continents. “Their contributions were a big push for developing the associations’ businesses,” he remarks.

One of those associations is ADICTA (Asociación de Desarrollo Integral Comunitaria / Association for Integral Community Development) in Tejutla, a town of 4,000 inhabitants. The association has approximately 250 members and its main economic activity is the processing and selling of fruit and vegetables grown by its members.

“The products are sold through a little shop in the association office,” Mr. Bailo expands. “The association board agreed that a first necessary step towards opening new markets was to redefine the image of their products.”

Through onlinevolunteering.org, the associations were able to find a Norwegian graphic designer based in London. “In less than six weeks she sent us 12 brand new stickers with a new logo ready for printing. The volunteer did not just design some stickers, but she helped raise the association’s self-esteem,” says Francesco.

"We are now proud to present our products at fairs”, says Victor Ramirez, the coordinator of the association. “We have nothing less than what the biggest producers have. We are no longer just another informal producer.”

A further helping hand to the association’s image came from three online volunteers who supported ADICTA in developing an English and Spanish promotional website.

Another two volunteers developed a brochure that explains with simple text and pictures the importance of a correct diet and consumption of local products like ADICTA’s. Angélica María Hernández Balderas from Mexico, who had prior experience marketing local products with rural communities in her home country, developed the brochure’s content. Lilian Yip, a communications designer from Malaysia, worked on the layout.

“As we were trying to convey messages about the benefits of organic products and a healthy diet, we worked at keeping the leaflet to-the-point,” says Ms. Yip. “This was achieved through a combination of minimal copy and easy-to-understand graphics. I also created a chart to illustrate the recommended food intake that can be used as a tearaway sheet.”

The next project is already underway. “We’ve just set up a team of 13 online volunteers with expertise in the trade of agricultural products. We want to explore possibilities to market ADICTA’s jams and honey abroad, and to enter Fair Trade markets,” concludes Francesco Bailo, who is planning to train the associations on managing online volunteers so they can continue cooperating once he moves on.