ARTIST: Village of SoatananaSilk Lambas | Village of Soatanana, Madagascar
Within this village of roughly 130 women, small groups have formed to produce the high quality lambas for which this village is famous. These women of Soatanana are now a governmentally recognized coop – the first all female coop in the country’s history. However, foreign markets do not understand the importance of the fabric – its history, rarity, and unique look and texture – and bulk buyers most often care only about their price point. Therefore, foreign and local markets for these Malagasy silk producers are hard to find.
The yarn is carefully hand spun, dyed by hand, and then woven on simple hand looms. The process is time-consuming, but the final product is unique, natural, culturally interesting, historically significant, and extremely fashionable. But because shipping costs are expensive and raise the price of the item, buyers are not willing to pay a price high enough to make it worth the producers' work.
This is where Philip and Sara at Beleza have stepped in to assist the village through the fair trade approach. Currently, Beleza is the only major outsource market for the lambas. At the end of 2007, Beleza had purchased almost 1000 lambas from the village over a period of three years. While this may not sound enormous to most retailers, it has truly created financial stability for the village.
Even after the first year Beleza had marketed the lambas, the village lifestyle had improved greatly as compared to surrounding villages, including more food and better clothing. The women now have livestock pens with cattle and pigs purchased with the money from their lamba sales. These animals represent a savings account of sorts, since they can trade the offspring for needed items. The village women have also built a simple clinic for the government nurse who visits periodically, as well as to store basic first aid supplies. Finally, they have managed to send a few children to a city boarding school program to get a high school education.
Through its fair trade practices, Beleza is once again reaching out to a remote village of wonderful people and making a significant difference. Thank you for your help in changing the world.
