Bags from Madagascar

small: 22 x 30 x 15cm 49$
medium: 27 x 33 x 18cm: 59$
large: Size large: 33 x 39 x 20cm: 69$
Comes from: Madagascar
Producer company: Madagascar Arts

Size and Color

Small Pink with Green Trim $49.00 Small Black with Cream Trim $49.00 Medium Pink with Green Trim $59.00 Medium Black with Cream Trim $59.00 Large Pink with Green Trim $69.00 Large Black with Cream Trim $69.00

Color- black with cream trim and pom poms or pink with green pom poms (more items to come!)

Made of Raffia- woven palm fiber

fairly-traded value-added finished goods

Purchasing one of our raffia products from Madagascar helps the local economy in very direct ways, especially in the rural communities where our producers live. Sales of these products provide jobs not just to the artisans and exporters in Madagascar, but also to hundreds of other people who supply and produce raw materials and components for their finished goods. Since 1994, we have sold over $1.5 million worth of raffia products from Madagascar, injecting over $400,000 into Madagascar's struggling economy. At least 60% of that money has gone directly to the rural communities where our producers live and work.

The economic benefits from sales of these beautiful pieces have had important social consequences as well. The artisans working directly with Madagascar Arts decided to form a benefits pool for cases of disability. All the artists pay into the pool and when one of them is injured or becomes sick, they may withdraw money from the pool to help them survive until they can work again. Madagascar Arts now also pays into the government-sponsored health insurance program for all its employees, giving them free access to government clinics to treat them and their families.

As the Madagascar Arts has developed, its managers and members have also gained valuable skills, such as computer and e-mail skills, as well as knowledge of foreign markets; these skills have helped them improve sales for their artists. The next step in their organizational development could well be the formation of a fair trade association that will help them receive better prices for their products.