history

WIBDI was set up in 1991, then the Women in Business Foundation, initially to meet the needs of urban women by promoting and advancing the economic and business status of the women of Samoa. Around this time, Samoa suffered back to back cyclones which devastated food and cash crops, followed in 1993 by a taro leaf blight that completely wiped out Samoa’s staple food and main export product. This motivated the founding group of seven women to reassess their focus and reach out to those women suffering because their incomes had been greatly reduced or totally eliminated.

They initially encouraged women to use their talents to earn an income or to supplement the incomes earned by their husbands. To give them markets for their products WIBDI conducted monthly market days, which became so popular they are now almost a Samoan way of life.

Realising that most of the hardships were being felt by those living in rural villages, WIBDI changed its focus in 1995, and began training programs in the rural areas. They offered opportunities to generate much needed cash and utilising the products of the village environments for employment. Their projects have created village economies, which in the past had totally relied on remittances.

Because of the reliance on remittances, rural village populations have not felt the need to generate their own income. The result is that they live in a cash economy, and yet are totally unprepared to deal with the realities involved.

WIBDI continues to focus on the village economies. Quantifying women’s weaving and creating job opportunities in the sponsoring of fine mats, and finding simple technologies to produce products for niche export markets are two main activities. These activities allowed the introduction of a micro-finance scheme, which introduces the women and their families to a banking system. They learn how to save and learn about credit discipline.

WIBDI has now also become the conduit for small producers to access the global market. We look for ways to overcome obstacles such as isolation from markets, smallness (impacting on what we can supply) and vulnerability to natural disasters and external shocks. Our approach has proved to be successful and our members are now involved in producing a diverse range of international products that are earning real income for rural families.

We have a flexible approach that is centred on local participation and the learned experiences of our field staff. This allows us to adapt to and deal with the problems we encounter.