UMA Artesanias

In Peru, over half of women (55.7%) aged 15 to 49 face gender-based violence, with nearly three-quarters (70.9%) too scared to seek help, primarily due to economic dependence on their partners. Across Latin America and the Caribbean, one out of every four women relies on men's income for their subsistence, a factor contributing to the 4,050 cases of femicide among women across 26 countries in 2022. Yet, the region boasts millions of skilled female artisans, capable of achieving economic independence through traditional handicrafts. Despite their talents, they struggle to turn skills into sustainable income, deepening reliance on their partners and increasing violence risks. UMA identified four key barriers to artisans' low income from handicraft production: 1) Designs don't match consumer tastes; 2) Limited capital leads to low-quality products; 3) Lack of quality control diminishes sales potential; 4) Reliance on low-paying intermediaries further undermines their earnings, who keep a share of their income without adding any value.

Building upon the rich skills and traditions of female artisans passed down through generations, our solution aims to economically empower artisans by reducing the risk of gender-based violence. We achieve this by: 1) co-designing premium products with artisans and professional designers; 2) providing financing for materials and equipment to optimize production and ensure product quality; 3) offering upskilling training and quality assurance to maintain high standards; and 4) facilitating access to high-margin markets for fairer pricing. UMA sells high-quality handicrafts through e-commerce channels and brick-and-mortar stores. Our for-profit approach enables UMA to be sustainable and reinvest profits into training, financing, and new equipment for artisans. We offer 3 categories of products to customers: textiles, huamanga stone, and wood handicrafts. See here short videos showing the production process of 2 categories:

• Huamanga stone: https://www.instagram.com/p/CBJ8IFvA_Yw/?igsh=aHUyZXM4b3Z6MGZv 

• Wood handicrafts: https://www.instagram.com/p/CCSQWy0JnMZ/?igsh=NzM5M3NuY3UwMDZu

UMA currently empowers female artisans from Ayacucho and Cajamarca, Peru's poorest and most violence-stricken regions, where poverty rates soar at 40.5% and 44.3%, respectively. Since 2020, we have expanded our reach: from 60 beneficiaries in 2020, to double that in 2021, and now tripled by 2024, currently working with over 400 women.

UMA's target beneficiaries are female artisans who live in extreme poverty, have suffered or are at high risk of suffering domestic violence, and are unable to break free from violence due to financial reliance on their partners. Prior to UMA, artisans depended on their partners' income, primarily from farming, to support their families. They couldn't fully engage in handicraft production due to partner restrictions. Even when they managed to create crafts, limited market access forced them to sell through intermediaries at significantly reduced prices.

With UMA, women artisans are lifting themselves out of extreme poverty, thereby reducing their vulnerability to gender-based violence. To date, we have enabled artisans to achieve an average income increase of 50%, with plans to reach a 200% increase by year-end. 

Our program boosts their skills and productivity through training and access to materials like high-quality threads and equipment, thereby increasing the value of their creations.

The Team Lead drew inspiration from her mother's work, who led Peru's National Program for the Protection of Women Victims of Violence for five years. This program provided emergency care, legal aid, and mental health support to women facing violence. Andrea's desire to understand the root causes of the issue led her to gather a diverse team of Peruvian professionals with expertise in business, economics, and social policy, all sharing her passion for social development. Hailing from various towns beyond the capital, such as Huacho, Apurimac, and Arequipa, the team boasted a deep understanding and connection to communities in need, many having served in the Peruvian government or volunteered with NGOs.

Their journey took them to Ayacucho, the nation's poorest and most violence-stricken region, where they met their first 60 beneficiaries, led by community leader Sabina. This first hand interaction shed light on the challenges faced by these women, informing the team's solution directly from the field. Expanding to the Cajamarca region revealed different underlying issues, such as limited access to quality inputs, which demanded tailored solutions.

Based on their backgrounds in public service, the team forged partnerships with the Peruvian government, securing support from the Minister of Production for legal, business, and sales training. Additionally, collaboration with the Municipality of Cajamarca funded training for over 200 artisans in textile design and production. Leveraging the team’s expertise from the private sector, UMA developed a sustainable business model with significant social impact and forged partnerships with five brick-and-mortar stores to sell our products.

Currently, team members are preparing to scale UMA, with six pursuing MBAs and Master's degrees in Public Administration for International Development at prestigious universities in the US and Canada, such as Harvard and the University of Chicago. 

During these 4 years of work, We've proved our business and social model:

• We are currently benefiting over 400 artisans in 2 regions of Peru, the ones with the highest rates of poverty and violence, proving our capacity to scale supply.  

• We have sold over 1000 products online and in 5 brick-and-mortar stores, helping our artisans reach an average increase of 50% in incomes so far. 

• We have maintained steady growth over the years, with nearly $17,000 in revenue by 2023.

• We have increased the artisans’ productivity through capital investments and donations for machinery and equipment. 

• We have developed a strong set of partnerships with public and private institutions.

UMA’s next goal is to scale up our number of beneficiaries in Peru and across Latin America, as well as increase artisan incomes by 200%. For that purpose, we aim to expand our operations to the US, one of the top two largest home décor markets, where the decoration accessories segment alone represents a $5 billion industry. To do so, we require financial, technical, and legal support from Solve to establish and launch operations in the US. Specifically, we seek help for the following needs:

1. Understanding importation and distribution processes across the US

2. Acquiring legal expertise for operating within the US

3. Identifying and securing partnerships with businesses for retail placement

4. Getting funding for marketing, website improvements, logistics, and product design enhancements, including support for professional designers collaborating with artisans on collections.

UMA’s biggest differentiation from competitors is that we bring an innovative solution throughout the whole value chain of women artisan’s production: 

1. We offer artisans the opportunity to work alongside professional designers and co-create premium products. 

2. We finance their inputs and capital equipment to guarantee an efficient process and quality products. 

3. We guarantee the production of quality products via training and quality controls. 

4. We help them sell their products in high-margin markets at fairer prices.

While other for-profit companies simply swoop in to collect products, UMA stands out as the only organization that was committed to understand the roots of our artisan’s problems and engaged from the inception of the value chain, providing essential support to artisans exactly where they need it most.

INPUT

ACTIVITIES

OUTPUTS

OUTCOMES

IMPACT

Capital

constraints 

• Low-quality materials (e.g., threads)

• Lack of working capital forces to stop production

• Lower-value products for high-end consumer markets

• Lower prices at local markets

• Intermediaries take a portion of the earnings

• Intermediaries take a portion of the earnings

Artisans are kept out of the market, trapped in poverty, with a critical dependence on their partners, and therefore facing high risk of violence and femicide

Limited

design skills and access to

market

• Designs misaligned with high-end consumer preferences

• If working with Western brands, neocolonialist dynamics at play

UMA’s impact goal is to create transformational impact by:

1. Reducing the proportion of ever-partnered women aged 15 years and older subjected to physical, sexual or psychological violence by a current or former intimate partner in the previous 12 months 

2. Reducing the proportion of time spent by woman on unpaid domestic and care work 

3. Reducing the proportion of women living below the national poverty line

We have started the measurement of our progress on indicators 2 and 3 by conducting annual surveys with our artisans. Our goal is to start measuring our impact on indicator 1 this year.

On the demand side, our core technologies include our website, online payment systems, and social media for marketing, all instrumental in reaching our handicraft customers. 

On the supply side, we are considering developing software that can help us improve our relationship with artisans, track and measure their productivity improvements, and manage our distribution processes and inventory.

We are 12 people working part-time ad-honorem. We do not have any paid staff or workers.

We have been working on the solution for four years.

Our core team comprises 10 women and 2 men. Hailing from various towns beyond the capital, such as Huacho, Apurimac, and Arequipa, our team is diverse and inclusive. Members bring a wide range of professional backgrounds, spanning from economics and marketing to law, with experience in the private sector, government, and multilateral organizations.

Our business model serves two main populations:

• Female artisans from Ayacucho and Cajamarca: we provide value by increasing their demand and their products' prices to help them get out of extreme poverty. We provide them with a platform to put their products, logistic solutions to transport and deliver products, and workshops to improve their skills. They need these services to have a stable income and escape extreme poverty and gender inequalities.
• Millennials, Gen Z, and Gen X women: we provide value by offering them unique, high-quality products that reflect the Andean culture and have a traceable social impact. We offer these products through our website, Instagram, and a couple of brick-and-mortar partnered stores. They want these products to decorate their homes and offices.

Our business model is financially sustainable. With an initial investment of $1,840 from co-founders, we've maintained consistent growth, accumulating over $16,000 in revenue by 2023. Selling over 1000 products online and in 5 brick-and-mortar stores, we've ensured an average increase of 50% in our artisans' incomes. Our business model maintains a 15% profit margin, which has been reinvested in acquiring additional stock, covering fixed costs, and purchasing machinery to boost artisan productivity. Over the years, we have not incurred any losses. This year, we received a grant from Harvard Spark Grants to fund our market testing in the US. In the long term, our goal is to benefit more artisans across Latin America, so we aim to increase sales to 12,500 products per year, generating revenue of $1 million by 2030. For that purpose, we are currently seeking funding for USD 75,000 to scale our operations in the US.