WELCOME TO APIKRI, A FAIR TRADE ORGANIZATION IN YOGYAKARTA INDONESIA

Apikri is one of the promoters of fair trade, empowering micro and small handicraft producers. It is a fair-trade organization established in 1987 by 25 handicraft small producers and NGO activists who provided assistance.

Initially, Apikri was the abbreviated name for Asosiasi Pengembangan Industri Kerajinan Indonesia. In 1989, the name "Apikri" was changed to the Indonesian People's Handicraft Development Association, reflecting the recognition that the challenges faced by small producers extended beyond marketing alone. In 1990, the name underwent another change: the Foundation for the Development of Indonesian Handicraft Producers, abbreviated as Apikri. Apikri, Inc. is responsible for facilitating marketing for small producers.

The first showroom is named TPB (Tempat Pemasaran Bersama), or Joint Marketing Place. This change demonstrated a significant increase in Apikri's activities and progress. In 2002, the name was changed to Apikri Cooperative, and Apikri Foundation unified with Apikri Cooperative. Despite several name changes from the initial setup until now, they always concern fair trade as the main value that aligns with the fair trade philosophy: fairness, transparency, accountability, and sustainability.

Since 1989, Apikri has been working with Fair Trade Principles that covered creating opportunities for economically disadvantaged producers, transparency and accountability fair trading, practices payment of a fair price, commitment to gender equity, ensuring good working conditions, providing capacity building, educational opportunities for children workers, respect for the environment and promoting fair trade. Apikri has a vision: to be a fair-trade voice empowering micro-small handicraft communities in Indonesia, with a mission to improve business capacity building for micro and small handicraft producers, facilitate market access for them, strengthen them as actors in the dynamics of the national economy, and promote fairness in trading as an instrument to achieve democracy in economic life.

A key competency of Apikri, as a fair trade organization, is the empowerment of micro and small handicraft communities. The general strategy involves community empowerment through a market-driven approach. The mission statement is to develop a market and find markets to foster community development.

Apikri's community empowerment through a marketing approach is achieved through three strategies:

• Assisting small micro-producers who create fair trade handicrafts in finding and establishing their own markets.
• Connecting micro and small producers of fair trade handicrafts with potential markets.
• Facilitating export marketing based on fair trade values if the two previous strategies are not practical for producers.

At present, more than 200 micro-small producers in the Yogyakarta Special Province and Central Java (Klaten, Wonogiri, Pacitan, Secang, Pekalongan, Banjarnegara) directly benefit from these initiatives." Some of the producers live in villages and slum areas as part of the Apikri implementation, and one of the fair trade principles is to empower the economic life of disadvantaged producers. In addition to facilitating marketing with fair trade values, producers benefit from business capacity building, design development, design information, financial support, fair trade awareness, and fair trade implementation assistance.

Until the end of 2006, Apikri collaborated with 17 trading partners, mostly fair trade buyers in 12 countries (Europe, North America, Japan, Hong Kong, Australia). Most of Apikri's trading partners are fair trade buyers from chain stores, not brokers, agents, or distributors, in order to approach consumers more directly. Apikri, following fair trade principles, receives a 50% advance payment from the trading partner for every order and gives 50% of the balance payment to members or participants who fulfill the order. The balance payment is provided to the members or participants after the products are sent and evaluated in the warehouse."

Apikri Programs:

• Producer Capacity Building:Entrepreneurship, product development training and consultancy, market information, bookkeeping, effectiveness and efficiency of production, waste management, and others.
• Market Facilitation, in Fair Trade Value
• Financial Support:Apikri has an FKM Division that manages soft loans mainly for order production.
• Human Resources Development: Entrepreneurship training, technology information, quality control, design development, market communication, and others.
• Environment Conservation:Every year, Apikri organizes replanting in producer sites.
• Advocacy for SME: Indigenous People Empowerment: Entrepreneurship, handicraft skill, and marketing training for people in remote islands.
• Awareness of Fair Trade:Through meetings for producers and visits to producers, Apikri always explains fair trade and its implementation.
• Promotion of Fair Trade: Apikri's fair trade handicraft products mostly consist of functional products with ethnically decorative values, made of leather, silver, brass, batik, textile, natural fiber, wooden handicraft, bamboo, ceramic.

All the handicraft products meet the fair trade product criteria (respect for the environment). Apikri is the second fair trade organization in Indonesia after Pekerti Jakarta and a member of the Fair Trade Forum Indonesia (FFTI). Currently, there are more than 20 Fair Trade Organizations that have joined together in FFTI/Forum Fair Trade Indonesia. Apikri is also a member of WFTO Asia (World Fair Trade Organization Asia). APIKRI is also a member of WFTO International (World Fair Trade Organization International). Every year, APIKRI undergoes an audit by WFTO (World Fair Trade Organization) to uphold the fair-trade organization philosophy and principles. In addition, some of Apikri's trading partners, mostly fair trade organizations, periodically audit Apikri through visits to the Apikri office and producer workshops to ensure the adherence to fair trade principles.