”This disease is forcing us to sell through the virtual market”

The pandemic was especially hard on informal workers who rely on daily earnings to support themselves and their families. With strictly imposed lock-downs and stay at home orders it was especially challenging for informal sectors to transition to digital opportunities. Studies show that women dominate the informal sector, and with the COVID restrictions in place this increased their precarity.

In the second quarter of 2020 SPIDER issued an open call for organisations working with Socioeconomic empowerment for marginalised groups in Bolivia, Cambodia, Colombia, Myanmar, Rwanda and Uganda. The selection process identified one organisation in Bolivia working with Aymara indigenous artisan women – Comunidad Andina Suma Satwi (CASSA) and Street vendors who also happen to be widows represented by Rwandan Youth Voice for Change (RYVC). The precarity of these women’s groups is magnified by their indigenity (Bolivia), and their widowhood, or single parent responsibilities, (Rwanda). Organisations applying for the support were not required to have digital experience, rather SPIDER would pair the implementing partner with a tech-developer in Bolivia and Rwanda that would support the transition of their enterprises to electronic forms of commerce. As always the work was underpinned by research and it is the research results that we share here.

The Aymara women were within the ages of 30-59, had an average of 4 children and their economic mainstay was as weaving artisans in textile and weaving jewelry among others. Their knowledge of internet use was limited to social media messaging and after the training, research underlines that:

• • • • • The women took their first step in the virtual world through smartphones
        • The women discovered the global market as an unlimited space of possibilities
        • The women have become empowered because despite their ages and levels of education they have discovered technological skills

The street vendors in Kigali’s ages range from 20-46 and they have spent an average of 4 years street vending due to limited education, and they met the proposal of a digital market place with high expectation. Some of the benefits that the digital market place offers the street vendors include:

• • • • • Wider customer reach beyond Kigali
        • Safer transations made through mobile financial services
        • Empowered vendors that are organised and carry out their business from ”anywhere”

Research uncovered the additional services that must be in place to support digital forms of commerical enterprises. The Aymara women needed to acquire skills in mobile banking, the street (there is an image of this) vendors in Rwanda needed to incorporate within the digitial bouquet of services, product delivery and payment features.

CASSA developed a digital platform within the project, while RYVC through its technical partner developed an online trading platform. CASSA supported 40 women and provided smart phones to enable them to create Instagram pages for their products, and by extension Facebook. Similarly, Agataro is available on Instagram and Facebook, which has expanded commercial activities beyond the physical locations of the vendors.

For the street vendors of Kigali and the Aymara women, this is a new way of working, marketing products and communicating with their customers. As the Aymara women asserted this allows them to ”sell our products directly, so the big companies will not take advantage as they always do.”.

Research also sought to learn more about the women. Some unexpected outcomes include the support these women were able to give their children with online learning. The digital skills they were were trained in allowed them to ”even now it [smart phone] will help us for our children’s classes”. In addition to supporting their children with online schooling, the women were able to continue socialising with their families through Facebook. This has awakened an appetite for furthering their education and especially technical knowledge.