User talk:Shabiir
Aseel
(ASEEL: Everything Handmade) is an e-commerce platform including Aseel website and Aseel mobile application that connects artisans in underdeveloped countries with insufficient sale and shipment infrastructure to consumers globally. We focused on measurable impact, building sustainable local businesses and full transparency from producer to customer via our supply chain. ASEEL promotes the growth of artisans, especially women, in underdeveloped communities, thereby improving local economies at the grassroots level. Our current mission is to create 10,000 jobs.
Background:
For the past two years, we have been piloting the project ASEEL, establishing a supply chain with a small group of vendors and developing an in-house application to test the markets on handmade Afghan goods. Our products team in Kabul has been working with our small group of vendors to gain insight into their production processes and how we might be able to augment their business.
As mentioned previously, we have an initial iOS application and a website that connects Afghan vendors to global consumers. We also are developing an Android application. While the two applications are sound initial versions with a viable financial backend for the two applications and the website, our applications could use some updating and maintenance to improve their functionality and design.
ASEEL initiative is supported by AWAL and has currently partnered with 14 vendors to pilot our supply chain; most of these partners are women-owned small businesses in Afghanistan. They produce carpets, jewelry, ceramics, clothes, leather products, literature and home décor items, woodwork, and artwork. In total these artisans employ 224 people. As we give them global access and market their products throughout the globe, our first target would be to provide 2700 jobs to artisans (mainly women) and their support staff in Afghanistan by the end of 2020 and 500 people in our second country as we expand (TBD).
Aseel’s motive:
According to a 2019 census, 54% of the population in Afghanistan are in poverty. The artisan sector has traditionally dominated the most poor, rural areas of the country. If ASEEL can expand its vendor network in the country and grow sales internationally, we can create 10,000 jobs in Afghanistan and sustain a proportionate amount of local, family-run or women-owned businesses. Though billions of US and European aid has gone into developing Afghanistan's economy from the top down, no sustainable progress has been made. Those programs have focused on education and technical training that Afghanistan does not as yet have infrastructure to support. We think there is value in building an economy up from the grassroots level, leading to more sustained and inclusive growth. The artisan sectors of Afghanistan already exists across all the provinces at the very local level. The current artisan businesses at the local level face challenges of supply chain as well as access to global markets. Our project gives local businesses in the artisan sectors both a platform to reach global customers as well as a supply chain to fill their demands. The bigger problem being, if an artisan in Afghanistan and many other underdeveloped countries want to sell their handmade products, there is no platform right now that supports it.
Aseel’s Goals:
Local artisans in underdeveloped countries such as Afghanistan are our main focus. The artisan economies in smaller, less developed countries are made up primarily of women, individuals with minimal education, and even youths. Artisan skills are handed down through the generations and small businesses are barely sustained by their local communities. If ASEEL can successfully sustain its pilot supply chain, we will see improvements in the Afghan economy sustained through the supply and demand of the markets rather than through government or international aid funding. Small, family-run or women-owned businesses in Afghanistan will be able to expand, increasing employment and training opportunities for rural and urban communities across the country.
Aseel’s operates on:
Asia & Oceania Central & South America Middle East Global
Vendors:
1. Zargarzadeh Gems & Jewelry
2. Tokma Fashion
3. Tablow Gallery
4. Nuristan Fashion
5. Narsees Clothes Design
6. Namad.af
7. Lora Clothing and Jewelry Brand
8. Asman Art
9. Ibra Clothing
10. Jama Designing Center
11. Lajaward Jewelry
12. Golden Wood Production
13. Bamyan Weavers
14. Kerki Weavers
What Aseel sells:
Aseel sells any type of handmade products that are genuine to the maker (vendor) and is not copied or duplicated from other makers. On the other hand, the handmade products should be purely handmade and the material should be original too. Aseel sells different kinds of products from venders, including but not limited to, women and me clothes, art, jewelry, leather, ceramics, carpets, wooden products, bags and small accessories, footwear, custom products, and many more.
External Links:
Email: [email protected]
Contact#: Afghanistan: +93 777 949 493/ US: +12 022 997 136
iOS App: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/aseel-everything-handmade/id1439360950
Website: https://aseel.xyz/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCr2tsGFHrXkMZcG_01rJNLQ/featured
Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/search?q=Aseelapp
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ASEELapp/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ASEELApp
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aseelapp/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aseel-everything-handmade/
Quora: https://www.quora.com/profile/Aseel-Everything-Handmade
