In Brazil, informal entrepreneurs are no exception: only 4 out of 10 people of the economically active population have a formal contract. The “Vida Melhor” program aims their vulnerabilities
Brasilia, June 21, 2016 – A hairdresser with no proper appliances to style her customers´ hair. A hotdog seller with no cart. Street vendors with no idea of whether they are selling at a profit or a loss. These are some of the issues and drawbacks faced across Brazil by small entrepreneurs in the informal economy. In the state of Bahia, this situation is being addressed by the Better Life Socio-Productive Inclusion Program (“Vida Melhor”, in Portuguese), and the results can be seen in a new video produced by the Brazil Learning Initiative for a World without Poverty (WWP).
The video is the first in a series of WWP case studies aimed at highlighting good productive inclusion practices in Brazil.
Launched by the Government of Bahia in 2011, the Better Life Program seeks to involve poorer people in the production of goods and services. Focused on small businesses run by low-income families enrolled in the Unified Registry, the Program provides training and access to rights for people earning their living from popular occupations such as handicrafts, food, services and solid waste recycling.
This is an important initiative in Brazil, where only 40% of the economically active population is employed in the formal labor market. It is particularly important in Bahia, where fewer than 30% are formally employed.
Better Life Program agents live in the same communities as the entrepreneurs and undertake weekly visits to homes to prepare economic viability studies of a particular business – an essential step in view of the low educational environment in which economic activities are normally performed at home and mixed to the living expenses of the entire family.
A successful economic viability study may lead to access to micro-credit and the provision of equipment and supplies.
According to Aline Santos, a Better Life Program development agent, “receiving equipment is important, but it is much more than that. Before the Program, they used to sell people an icecream or a cup of coffee, but they had no idea of the real cost of the item, and whether they were making a profit or a loss on it.”
With its efforts to promote decent and sustainable employment for small entrepreneurs, this Program operates in an area that is rarely addressed by other productive inclusion initiatives.
According to Professor Gabriel Kraychette of the Salvador Catholic University “The idea is to boost the autonomy of these workers in the urban popular economy, to expand their perception of the requirements for producing a quality change in whatever activity they are involved in, and to encourage them to take properly informed and safe decisions. ”
The Better Life Program video is the first release in the WWP series of case studies that will be published together with summary reports. The videos and reports are intended to highlight some of the achievements, as well as the problems and areas that need improving, in programs scattered throughout the country.
The next video in the series deals with the operation of the San Francisco Hinterland (Território Sertão) Development Program, also in Bahia. Its launch will be accompanied by a special extra edition of our Newsletter, scheduled for August, which will be devoted entirely to productive inclusion practices.
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WWP on YouTube
The Better Life video also marks the launch of the WWP YouTube channel, which will provide informational and dynamic material on programs and social policies both in Brazil and worldwide.
All the audiovisual material that is currently available on the WWP website can be found on this new channel, organized by language: English, Portuguese, Spanish, and soon, French.
To keep up to date, subscribe to our channel.
Marco Prates, WWP