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February 29, 2012
WOMEN’S ‘GREEN’ BUSINESS TURNS GREATER PROFIT
Better Tools Double Output of Women’s Recycled Bottle Brooms
Making brooms from discarded plastic soda bottles is an even more profitable money-making venture for the Women’s Association of San Francisco de Asís in northern Paraguay, thanks to an ACDI/VOCA economic empowerment initiative.
Recycled Bottles Yield New ‘Green’ Business Venture
Many rural families in Paraguay—the second poorest country in South America—struggle to find a way to support themselves as agriculture becomes commercialized. Natural resources are scarce; deforestation is rampant, and infrastructure is weak. While illicit income-generating activities such as money laundering and drug trafficking persist, finding ways to earn money legally poses challenges for most people, particularly in the sparsely populated northern region.
In 2010, the government department, La Gobernación de San Pedro y la Municipalidad de Guayaibí, trained an association of 19 women how to convert bottles into brooms.
After cleaning the bottles with a special alcohol mixture, the women cut them into strips, twist the strips into threads and attach these threads to wooden frames and handles. Making one broom takes 36 two-liter plastic bottles twisted into 400 threads.
With the training, the women now had the knowledge and skills to expand their business. Still, they lacked the equipment to enhance efficiency. The process—primarily done by hand—often took hours.
Women Get Drills, Other Tools
Through the USAID-funded North Zone Initiative, or Iniciativa Zona Norte (IZN) as it is known locally, ACDI/VOCA worked with local partners to identify specific community groups, such as this women’s association, that could benefit from assistance.
After meeting with the 19 association members, assessing their current equipment and hearing about future plans, IZN staff supplied the women with better broom-making tools, including drills, cutters, pliers and work tables.
Right Tools Help Women Double Output
With the right tools, the women increased their output by 100 percent. They now make about 16 to 20 brooms per month, which earns the group between $220 and $250 per month, minus material costs.
Brigida Duarte, the association’s president, says the women are grateful for ACDI/VOCA’s assistance. Members have used the extra income to support their children's education and pay for other family expenses.
Next, Duarte says, the association’s members plan to expand the business to include soap and other housecleaning products for local sale.
Learn more about ACDI/VOCA’s work in Paraguay.
See more photos of the women's association on Flickr.
Pictured at top left: Members of the Women’s Association of San Francisco de Asís stand with brooms they made using equipment provided by ACDI/VOCA's USAID-funded program.
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