Management Systems International (MSI), 2012, Women’s Economic Empowerment: Balochistan Evaluation Report

2.1 Enabling environment

2.1.9 Value Chains and adding value to value chain components

Recommendation: 3. When designing projects with women (and men) in home-based or other informal economy activities, include focus on the value chain. Incomes and working conditions can be improved when consideration is made of the means to strengthen informal economy products in the value chain.

Reference: Management Systems International, 2012, Women’s Economic Empowerment: Balochistan, Final Evaluation, USAID, Washington DC.

Evidence sample: the evaluation found that the project’s focus on the embellished product’s value chain is an appropriate approach to engaging women in economic activity in the project area.

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2.3 Direct actions in communities

2.3.2 Entrepreneurship: Capacity strengthening on economic activities

Recommendation: 20. Improve support for home-based workers by including mobile sales agents who can link the workers to markets and communicate market demands back to producers.

Reference: Management Systems International (MSI), 2012, Women’s Economic Empowerment: Balochistan Evaluation Report, Final evaluation.

Evidence sample: The evaluation identified several good practices to improve marketing of products that home-based workers had made. This included the approach of using mobile women as sales agents and to facilitate quality improvement, to link women embellishers (WEs) to markets, and to communicate market demands back to WEs addresses real constraints that WEs in the region face when accessing markets.

Specifically, the evaluation noted that the project established Female Sales Agents (FSAs) to act as a link between the market and Women Embellishment Groups (WEGs). FSAs deliver the finished products from the WEGs to the market. They also bring back order specifications from the market, thus updating the home bound artisans on the latest trends and demands in the market.

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2.3.2 Entrepreneurship: Capacity strengthening on economic activities

Recommendation 28. Promote opportunities for women to enhance their IE livelihoods using skills that they already have but ensure that full analysis is conducted of the market and other barriers that exist to gaining adequate income from these activities. Develop effective approaches to overcome the identified barriers.

Reference: Management Systems International (MSI), 2012, Women’s Economic Empowerment: Balochistan Evaluation Report, Final evaluation, USAID, Washington DC.

EVIDENCE SAMPLE: The traditional skills of making embellished garments – a skill from which many women already earn income – presents an opportunity that builds on existing skills and practices. However, homebound women face a number of barriers to full participation opportunities in the embellished garment sector.