About
OVERVIEW
Founder's story
After living in Kenya for almost 10 years, I have a practical understanding of development and have found
no better means of poverty alleviation or appropriate sustainable development than fair trade...that's why I
do what I do! Supporting entrepreneurs is the only way to create employment in a country with no
employment, and the church is taking a leading role in this movement. VMA is a project of the Kenya
Evangelical Lutheran Church to connect artisan cooperatives in Kenya to concerned consumers in the
United States.
Our mission
Village Markets of Africa (VMA) strives to bring the concepts of sustainable development together with
grass roots cooperatives from Africa into one centralized effort. VMA aims to bridge the ever burgeoning
gap between philanthropy and business success. Empowering artisans through Lutheran Church development projects in Africa, VMA offers global opportunity for artisans who are victims of poverty and struggle with sustainable income.
Village Markets of Africa is a fair trade project of the Kenya Evangelical Lutheran Church. VMA pays artisans upfront fair wages for their work and also engages in profit sharing with those artisans. 50% of profits are returned to artisans in the form of job training, machines and production upgrades, and microcredit loans. We create opportunity for entrepreneurship as a means of building capacity and
alleviating poverty.
Our philosophy
Fair Trade is the Answer!
The types of products we sell
Fair trade jewelry, clothing, accessories, and home decor.
Where the producers live and work
Producers live in Kenya and work at fair trade artisan cooperatives managed by the Kenya Evangelical Lutheran Church. Although living in Kenya, many of our artisans are refugees that have fled their home countries. They have found refuge in the KELC and employment through VMA. They bring wonderful diversity to the products we have to offer.
Projects we support
Fair Trade Projects!
How we select what we sell
Market research is conducted through sample sales. Successful products make it on to the website. We also work with each of our artisan cooperatives to design products that will sell in North American markets.
What makes us unique
Our model of profit sharing and transparent business model through the Lutheran Church.
More information about us
We offer over 200 fair trade products directly from artisans in Africa. Check out our website to see all of the African treasures! We also offer wholesale pricing for those of you wishing to spread fair trade on larger scale. Please contact us for more information.
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