Project Areas:
The Project:
Bata's approach was to bring the factory to the villagers so they would not have to travel to the city to find work. The factory was to produce footwear to be sold under the Bata label, but it was also to serve as the foundation for further economic development.
Bata started with a village survey in February 1991 and decided to base its operations in Buri Ram province near PDA's Nang Rong CBIRD office. CBIRD, or Community Based Integrated Rural Development, has been one of PDA's earlier projects in rural development. The intention was to take advantage of the support services of PDA for training and administration.
The project's first step was to train 5 young women who graduated from the TBIRD/Singer Sewing Centre in Nang Rong as the nucleus for the factory. These women, and a TBIRD coordinator employed by Bata received further training at the Bata factory in Bangkok. These six people learned more than simply how to make shoes. They also studied the production process so that they could teach and supervise others. After the core group finished training, they returned to Nang Rong and trained more than 16 villagers.
Bata now established a small training factory at the village of Nong Bod and provided the equipment needed to produce the uppers of canvas shoes. This factory now produces the uppers for about 1000 pairs of shoes per day.
From its small beginnings in 1991, Bata's TBIRD project has expanded and continues to grow. The first training factory has expanded to 32 workers, and the interest crested has led to the establishment of Bata cooperatively owned factories in 3 other villages. Singh village employs 65 workers, Lam Saiyong employs 76 workers.
The Bata project has focussed primarily on employing women, who are most at risk of exploitation if they leave the villages. By employing women in their village children grow up in a far healthier environment, and generally attend school for longer than if they were in Bangkok. An evaluation of the Bata project shows that two thirds of the women employed at the cooperative factory are former migrants who have returned from Bangkok
