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Co-Owner Denise Attwood with Ms. Meera Bhattarai and Ms. Revita Shrestha

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Ganesh Himal Trading Makes a Second Contribution to ACP’s Retirement Fund

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In 2019 our long-time partner and friend, Meera Bhattarai, who is the founder and director of the Association for Craft Producers (ACP) in Nepal informed us of a truly perilous situation for ACP’s 800 women employees. Since founding ACP in 1984, Ms. Bhatterai has empowered thousands of low-income women in Nepal and helped them gain access to income, skills development, social benefits and training. ACP has always provided financial and employee benefits far beyond what the Nepali government requires. ACP gives employees fair wages, a voice in the decision making process, and economic control of their resources. As a result these employees have done amazing things for their children and their communities.

In 2019, ACP found itself in a crisis situation when the government of Nepal suddenly decided to impose timelines on retirement savings held by organizations. Here’s a bit of background. ACP has always provided a retirement benefit for employees which they gave them when they left the organization. Over the last 19 years, ACP has held aside and paid out these retirement benefits to all those who were leaving without any problem or delay. Early in the program, however, their financial advisors told them that as long as they had adequate funds to pay off those who were about to retire, they should invest the remaining retirement funds back into the organization. So, ACP held the amount needed for retirees in reserve and invested the rest back into their operations. Recognizing that their producers were aging, they increased their retirement reserves and in 2019 had set aside $89,722 US.

Here’s the problem. In 2019, the Nepali government passed a new labor law which made it mandatory to bank all retirement funds owed to workers on a monthly basis instead of at the end of their service. They also stipulated that ALL previous retirement fund liabilities collected must be deposited in a government approved fund. In accordance with that mandate, ACP committed to producers that all their previous retirement funds will be deposited in their government approved accounts by the end March of 2025.

Because ACP has been collecting retirement funds for such a long time, their retirement fund liability to producers in 2019 was $281,705 US of which they have been able tocollect and pay $230,705 US, leaving approximately $51,000 US to raise to cover all retirement accounts. Since the passage of the law in 2019, they have been able to stay current with paying into the retirement accounts monthly (even with Covid), so their retirement debt has not grown. However, they still have to raise the balance of $51,000 US before March of 2025. This, while they navigate business survival with decreased sales, in the aftermath of Covid, without PPP loans or any other government assistance.

ACP is a remarkable non-profit that has been financially self-sufficient from the sale of their goods since the fourth year of their operation. For 35+ years they have been reliant on their own income source for day-to-day operations while enabling thousands of low-income artisans, predominantly women, to have dignified lives and a stronger voice. Throughout their history, they have been responsible toward all of their stakeholders, instituting benefit programs long before the government ever even considered them. They understand that their employees are looking to them to honor the commitment to the producer retirement accounts, and they need to honor that by fully funding them. Currently, however, since the start of the pandemic, their profit has barely stretched to cover their overhead expenses, as well as keeping up with the current retirement benefits. Because of these pressures, which are compounded by the current global economy, it will be impossible for them to raise their profits enough to cover the additional $51,000 needed in the next year and a half. Attempting to do so has already put a huge strain on the organization. They do not want to fail, too much is at stake, and they are in absolute need of financial assistance to cover these retirement fund liabilities.

Ganesh Himal Trading has worked with ACP as a fair trade importer for over 35 years. We have watched them persevere through civil wars, earthquakes, embargos and the Covid pandemic without any help from the government. We’ve seen their effectiveness first hand and watched women thrive and transform their communities. ACP is in the work of women’s economic empowerment for the long haul and they have a proven track record.

ACP is the premier women’s craft organization for women’s economic empowerment and Fair Trade in Nepal and they serve as a model organization for others to follow. The impact of losing this organization would not only affect their producers but the future of all of their followers.

Recognizing the importance of ACP’s survival and the breadth of their monumental work, Ganesh Himal Trading made a $5,000 donation to their retirement fund in 2022 and recently made our second donation of $5,000 for 2023. At this point this is all we can do but our plan is to continue helping into the future. That is why we are writing to you. ACP is humbly asking for your support at this critical time.

If an individual or business would like to contribute to this incredible organization’s retirement fund in their time of need, please reach out to us at info@ganeshhimaltrading.com for more information. The return on this investment is huge, and will ensure the continuation of a critical, 35+ year old nonprofit in Nepal that provides fair wage jobs for 800 women, continued stability for their families, and much needed retirement funds in a country that does not offer any social security or safety net for old age.

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