TFF Exhibits at Corporate Council on Africa Conference in Baltimore, MD
Monday, June 27th, 2005 (Events)
From June 21-23, The Forest Foundation, a Durham-based non-profit, was invited to participate in the Corporate Council on Africa Conference in Baltimore, MD. Among many heads of state, the President of the Malagasy Republic was given tribute for his reforms and improving trade conditions for his country. The Foundation’s 12 years experience in Madagascar was one of the reasons for the invitation. The Foundation exhibited and sold crafts from several of its artisan projects in Madagascar, Rwanda, Kenya and Cameroon.
Foundation President , Marc Dreyfors, was interviewed by Voice of America, and Executive Director, Mary Katherine Williams, guided a CNN International camera crew through the booth. Mr. Dreyfors, described to Voice of America the manufacturing process for raffia bags, showing how a traditional renewable craft has been turned into a world class fashion item with mass market appeal. (right: Ms. Williams with Cheryl Pillay representative of Zandla Xpressions, from QZN, South Africa)
The Foundation participated in the Craft Fair, where artisans from over 20 African countries exhibited, hoping to find importers, network and some sales. Sales to conference participants and hotel staff where brisk, to representatives of major corporations, like Chevron, BP and Daimler-Chrysler, and large NGO’s like World Bank, United Way and CHF International helping to support the artisans. “The fact that crafts were a component of the Conference with a workshop session, among those on oil and minerals, was a significant achievement,” commented Ms. Williams.
One of TFF’s Malagasy silk shawls was sold to the U.S. Ambassador from South Africa. “She just handed me her checkbook and left to shop at one of the other booths!” Mr. Dreyfors gasped, “I asked if any of her entourage and bodyguards need some extra cash as drafted our own check.” Craft vendors came from Zimbabwe, South Africa, Namibia, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso and Zambia. Most notable were the wild collected endemic silk products of Namibia, beaded copper wire and cloth scarves and bags, Ethiopian scarves and Malagasy silk products.
Mr. Dreyfors participated in a session on Peace Parks, or trans-boundary park systems. “I was impressed at the vision of using natural areas for healing the relationship between people and between people and nature,” Mr. Dreyfors said. Representatives discussed the Colleges of Wildlife and Tourism in South Africa that train students, primarily underprivileged women, in the tourism and natural areas management. Peace Park officials gave a beautiful overview of various Peace Parks throughout southern Africa, using Landsat data and GIS to show the ecosystems, villages and wildlife.
They gave the example of the Krueger-Limpopo Park, between South Africa and Mozambique, where over a million tourists visit Krueger annually and an expected $15 million will be generated in revenue for war-torn Mozambique. The multipliers associated with tourism are significant when combined with craft and entrepreneurial business development. The next project to begin will be a Peace Park in the DMZ area between North and South Korea.
Ms. Williams and Mr. Dreyfors also were introduced to representatives of the African Wildlife Federation, who were excited to learn of the Foundation’s history of working with biodiversity conservation projects, its integrated service strategies and voiced a desire to connect with their enterprise development field projects. The Foundation made excellent contacts with several organizations working in hand craft development and promises were made to facilitate tours, training and information exchange.
One of the most interesting contacts was Trish Collier, the director of Sizana Crafts from Zula Quasi Natal State in South Africa that was working with the local university, School of Natural Resources, on suppression of invasive species by developing products using them. “Her vision of working with rural communities and developing sustainable handicraft and her eloquence as warmth as an individual was unforgettable,” said Ms. Williams
The Foundation’s goal in attending the conference was to identify artisans working in natural fibers and in areas of high biodiversity, as well as to find potential clients for its service system in development. The Forest Foundation, based in Durham, North Carolina, is a 501(C)(3) non-profit organization that works to promote and support sustainable livelihoods through model programs in environmental education, green business, and fair trade.
For more information about the Corporate Council on Africa or international development in Africa, go to:
www.africacncl.org; www.peaceparks.org; www.awf.org.