Katie Martin attended our Summer School on Cooperatives and Social Enterprise in the UK a couple of years ago. She has kept in touch with us and when she told us that she and her husband wanted to do something useful with their planned holiday in Asia we were delighted to help with contacts and suggestions. Here is one of her blogs from their recent visit to Indonesia. Like us she concludes that “for all of our differences social enterprises share very similar issues… Social enterprises around the globe ARE creating real and profitable solutions to social and environmental issues.” Katie seems to be learning a lot on her travels and we are looking forward to working with her when she returns!........... Our final few days in Indonesia were spent in Jakarta meeting with people who are putting their mark on the world. They are social entrepreneurs and they are using business to make the world a better place. Similar to the UK and the USA, social enterprise (SE) in Indonesia is not a new phenomenon, rather how they are recognised and discussed has changed overtime. Indonesian SE has existed since the countrys independence from the Dutch. These organisations were not seen or talked about as such, rather they were really community/area based businesses setup to generate revenues as a way to empower the people. I had the opportunity to meet two social enterprise pioneers in Jakarta through Cliff Southcombe, the Founder and Director of Social Enterprise Europe. Fajar Anugerah is the Managing Director of Indonesia Berbakti, previously Senior Programme Manager at the British Council and Romy Cahyandi is the Executive Director of UnLtd Indonesia, which launched in May. Fajar and Romy have worked very hard over the past several years to show the government strong data-driven evidence that SEs are creating real and profitable solutions to social and environmental issues. One way they have done this is through the Community Entrepreneurs Challenge (CEC), started in Partnership with the British Council and Social Enterprise Europe (SEE). They all recognised the need for systematic support, capacity building and access to seed funding to build a SE ecosystem throughout Indonesia. The CECs aims are to identify and support potential entrepreneurs with the potential to develop their communities, as well as communities that have the potential to create and manage their own enterprises. If you notice, there is nothing in that which explicitly mentions SE in the aims of the competition. However the term innately describes the enterprises that have grown as a result of the completion. Though other organisations in Indonesia were already supporting SEs, it really wasnt until this competition that the term SE gained the popularity and frequency of use today. I had the opportunity to meet several social entrepreneurs that entered and have won the CEC, and for some it transformed the way they do business today. Take Wangsa Jelita for example, prior to entering the competition, they had no intention of being a SE. Like many social businesses they just do what they do without labelling themselves or even knowing what the term/label SE. I met Nadya Saib, the companys CEO & Co-founder who has helped design a business the way they feel it should be conducted; adding value to resources, both human and natural. Wangsa Jelita began when they realised there was no pharmaceutical definition or regulation for the use of the word natural when its used in skin care products. They wanted to use an entrepreneurial based solution to what they viewed as a problem. After an initial interest in using strawberries in their products, they found themselves taking an intensive month long introductory workshop about rose farmers instead. They learned that rose farmers rely heavily on middle-men and they have little to no say in pricing structures, etc. They also learned that if the stems do not meet certain measurement criterion, they are not available for resale and are simply thrown away. Finally, demand for roses is quite seasonal with peak sales revolving graduations and Valentines Day, meaning the income for farmers is not all that reliable. Their lightbulb moment came from the potential to work with rose farmers as an alternative market in demand for their discarded products. Wangsa Jelita is able to purchase the class C roses directly from the farmers at the same price as the more desirable roses are sold. You see, their products rely only on the petals, creating a win-win situation for all. Watch the video to get the full story. Nadyas long term goal for Wangsa Jelits is to be Indonesias sweetheart. Wangsa Jelita are committed to working with farmers and artisans throughout the country. They have recently introduced a resellers programme that will sell products directly to consumers, whilst increasing the earning power of their resellers. This has been no easy feat, but it is one of the ways they envision increasing the production means of rose farmers and showing others what truly natural hair, skin and facial products really feel like. Some of the best entrepreneurial stories begin with accidental encounters. For example, Pandawa Putra initially began their business as an essential oil company, specialising in patchouli. That is not what they do today. After meeting company Co-founder Kukuh Roxa, he explained how their industry and vision changed with The intent to becoming a global enterprise in socially impactful & integrated agricultural business. This shift from essential oils to rice occurred after meeting farmers who were having detrimental problems with insects. Resulting in 90% of their rice harvests failing because the insects had become resistant to their harsh chemical pesticides. If that werent enough, their fertilisers eventually ruin the soil after 10-30 years (also seen on palm plantations today), negatively impacting land and communities. The first approach Pandawa Putra took to solve the myriad of problems faced by farmers was to produce an organic fertiliser. The next stage in their business was making their own organic rice- later producing rice seedlings instead. For them, this just made good business sense. The margins for seedlings are 50-70% higher than rice and it alleviates the struggles they had competing with cartels and giant corporations (e.g. Monsanto), a seemingly impossible feat. Pandawa Putra is now made up of three main components: High quality affordable seeds Organic & mineral fertilisers and bio pesticides Technical Consulting to increase the farmers knowledge and skills Pandawa Putras long-term goal is to be acknowledged and have their products used by plantations. They have seen firsthand how destructive plantations are to the environment and communities throughout Indonesia. Through word-of-mouth they have been able to convert farmers and change the way they run their businesses. If they can do that, then certainly they have a real shot at converting plantations. Greeneration is another company who competed in and won the CEC. They are a hybrid organisation combining advocacy work with trade. Greeneration believes that most environmental problems are caused by human behaviours, influenced by their attitude towards the environment. They are using their business as a vehicle encouraging society to have an eco-friendly attitude and to continuously improve, conserve and prevent the environment from further degradation. Greeneration is comprised of four components: BaGoes- foldable bags designed to reduce excessive use of plastic bags Gerikan Indonesia Diet Kantong Plasik (GI-DKP)- collaborations of consumers, retailers, governments and environmental organisations to prevent excessive use of plastic bags Petulangan Banyu- educational animated movies for 6-12 year olds for educating environmentally friendly attitudes and behaviours Waste 4 Change- responsible waste management services to reduce waste from the start I met co-founder and Foundation Director Christian Natalie who shared the companies structure, beginnings, goals and struggles with me. He also generously gave me a few of the foldable bags made by BaGoes which I cant wait to show off in the UK. Greeneration is a hybrid organisation because each of their four core businesses are registered with four different legal structures. As complicated as that may sound, each component is aligned, meaning they all share the same core values; they all reinforce the next. Something which has helped Greeneration in their successes to date are the partnerships with companies such as The Body Shop and Circle K (a mini-mart in Indonesia). Greeneration help those companies execute their CSR goals, whilst building awareness for the issues they are so passionate about. An interesting fact I learned from Christian is that it is mandatory in Indonesia for companies to set aside 5-15% (depending on size) of their budgets for CSR, creating a winning situation for all. Greeneration is quite pleased with their performance overall, but like any good company, they have a big goals for their future. They aim to develop more programmes to encourage green thinking and behaviours in everyone. They are also trying to increase sales of BaGoes bags, as that will help them achieve their foremost goals mentioned above.They have a long way to go to change the mind set of society, but they are seeing results and have no plans to put the breaks on that yet. Lets make their jobs easier by all doing our parts to change our green behaviours. The final social enterprise I had the pleasure of meeting was Toraja Melo (TM). I met Penny Purnawaty, Marketing Executive at their beautiful boutique in South Jakarta. She shared with me the founding story, main routes to market, struggles, and TMs outlook for the future. TM which translates to Beautiful Toraja (a region is Sulawesi) was founded by Dinny Jusuf whose aim is to rejuvenate local weaving practices, whilst improving the weavers lives by designing, producing and marketing high quality products made of the Toraja weaving. The company is run by Dinny and her sister Nina who designs and manages the production processes for TM. There are several reasons traditional weaving practices have diminished over time, some of which have been a struggle for TM. However, TMs approach for addressing these issues and for preserving this ancient craft has been to market creative head-to-toe fashion and accessory designs to the middle-upper class market in Indonesia and abroad. Their main routes to market have been via their boutique showroom, outlets and exhibitions. They are currently working to expand their partnerships with NGOs to further help communities, leaving TM to focus on marketing these beautifully, hand-made products. As TM grows, they are staying committed in their quest to better the lives of women and building awareness about craft extinction. They aim to show women that they can make a living wage by producing their crafts and sharing their skills and knowledge with others. I cant wait for the day when I spot a Toraja Melo accessory on the busy streets of London. SEs, similar to any organisations in any country around the world will have hurdles to overcome. What Ive noticed after meeting social entrepreneurs in Indonesia is that for all of our differences, SEs share very similar issues. As vital as it is to have a strong business for accomplishing any social and environmental goals, its equally as important to have opportunities and a strong ecosystem in place. SEs across the globe ARE creating real and profitable solutions to addressing social and environmental issues and I had the pleasure of meeting Indonesian social entrepreneurs who are proving this on a daily basis. My quest to meet social entrepreneurs during my travels continues. Sometimes its merely a sweaty walk, occasionally getting lost or asked a million times if Id like a tuk-tuk ride on my way to find an ethical shop. Sometimes its exchanging several emails with very patient people who are keen to share their stories, or the stories of others. No matter the adventure, Im determined to make this time count, hoping to make my mark on the world too. Katie Martin
Posted on: Wed, 10 Sep 2014 10:48:36 +0000
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