An evaluation calls ITC's jute programme a major
success.
© International Trade Centre, International Trade Forum
- Issue 4/2000
An independent evaluation concluded that ITC's market
development and promotion activities for jute and jute products are
a major success. Working with modest budgets by industry standards,
ITC produced substantial results in assisting tens of millions of
very poor people in promoting jute exports, a natural, eco-friendly
material. When asked to quantify benefits, leading traders
suggested that over 20 years, about US$ 6 million in project
funding have reaped rewards of upwards of US$ 500 million.
The resources committed to saving the industry were large by ITC
standards, but tiny by industry norms.
Jute's only marketing programme
ITC was the only organization to undertake market development
and promotion for the sector; other technical cooperation
programmes focused on production and manufacturing.
ITC helped limit the extent of the decline in jute trade, which
bought time for the industry to adjust to market losses to
artificial fibres. Few natural materials fit environmental criteria
as well as jute. This message is beginning to filter through to
consumers, thanks, up to a point, to ITC's interventions.
Technical assistance to the poorest people
The jute industry consists of millions of very poor people who
grow the fibre because it is ideal for rotation with rice, thus
offering the means for extra earnings. Jute has much to commend it:
it protects rice cultivation; it can be replaced within months; its
cultivation, harvesting and primary processing provide much-needed
employment for women and landless labourers; its processing
provides much-needed industrial employment.
This article is adapted from the ITC newsletter, Evaluation
News, Editor: J. Piers de Raveshoot.
For more information, contact Anthony Sandana, ITC Senior Commodity
Officer, at sandana@intracen.org