The Mitra Bali Foundation (Yayasan Mitra Bali) was established in 1993 with the support of the local Oxfam representatives.
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| Photograph courtesy of Mitra Bali Foundation |
A non-governmental, not-for-profit organisation, the Mitra Bali Foundation was started to act as a market and export facilitator for small craft producers who were missing out to large, well-established, businesses in the 'great Bali tourism bonanza'. Without direct access to the tourist centres, it was difficult for those producers to access orders or even local trade. Yet, the contribution of these artisans to the development of the island is substantial.
Their artistic output represents the visible face of Balinese Culture, which, ironically, helps to draw tourists and buyers to Bali.
Mitra Bali Foundation currently works with around 100 producer groups employing over 1,000 men and women. To counter the marginalisation of these producers, Mitra Bali markets its producers' products both locally and internationally and exports internationally to both alternative and commercial buyers. Fair trade buyers include Ten Thousand Villages in the USA and Canada, Shared Earth in Great Britain, Fair Trade Original in the Netherlands, Umae from France, Audela des Frontiers in France, GEPA in Germany, Commercio Alternatifo in Italy, Fair Trade Sisam and SERRV International. Buyers are introduced to producers and can, if they prefer, work directly with individual groups. Several of these organizations have established long term partnership agreements with Mitra Bali, which aim to support the development of the foundation and its producers.
In addition, Mitra Bali Foundation has an open access, free Design Centre facility for producers that provides a library of books and current magazines, consultation meetings with product designers and a program of monthly workshops focusing on new trends, technical aspects of production and health and safety, as well as the use of environmentally sustainable resources within the production process.
Due to the terrorist bomb in October 2002, Bali has suffered a dramatic downturn in tourism and this has affected the livelihoods of many craft people on the island. Thankfully, due to the relationships Mitra Bali has established with international fair trade buyers, the small producers they work with have been able to survive this difficult period and are now looking forward, as the tourist trade picks up slowly.