Ten thousand villages (ttv)
Handicraft Buyer in the USA
Established in 1946 as one of the world’s first Fair Trade organisations, Ten Thousand Villages (TTV) remains a pioneering ethical retailer of fairly traded products, connecting over 10,000 artisans in 24 countries across Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East, to consumers in the U.S and Canada.
Image: Mrs. Adela Masongsong, a resident of Tayabas, Quezon province, Philippines. Since 1978, Adela has been a partner of CCAP Fair Trade (Community Crafts Associate of the Philippines), a partner from whom Ten Thousand Villages buys products). Today, at the age of 86, Mrs. Adela said she still wants to continue doing handicrafts as long as she can. The business is her main source of livelihood to support the educational needs of her 11 children. Adela also helps her neighbours incur additional income for their families.
InvestA hand up for handicraft producers
TTV’s inclusive economic practices, such as its non-profit artisan investment model, places makers from under-resourced communities at the heart of the value chain – building strong partnerships based on fair trade principles, prioritising shared prosperity and worker welfare.
Features of this working model include paying 50% of the order cost upfront, interest-free, providing immediate capital for materials and labour, and preventing artisans taking out high-interest loans. The remaining 50% is paid upon shipment – and artisans are paid in full, even if their products don't sell.
This "maker-to-market" strategy eliminates financial risk for artisans, providing stable incomes and encouraging a long-term collaboration, with the average TTV-artisan relationship spanning three decades.
Shared Interest and TTV
Shared Interest has supported TTV since 1998, and our relationship has been key to the sustainability of the ethical payment model enacted by founder, Edna Ruth Byer.
Dan Alonso, CEO of TTV, said:
“Ten Thousand Villages utilises Shared Interest finance as a key tool to facilitate making payments to our international artisan partners.”
TTV’s support has been instrumental for artisans who otherwise face myriad challenges exporting to international markets.
Dan continued:
“The barriers artisans face are diverse. The first is related to materials and skills – do they have the equipment to process raw materials ... The second level is business know-how related to technicalities of exporting overseas ... The final, [external] barriers, such as government-set economic policies or climate-related catastrophes, require creative solutions to address.”
Pathways to prosperity
Launched this year, TTV’s Artisan Pathways Program offers a comprehensive, multi-session training series designed to support craftspeople in successfully exporting products to international markets.
The initiative is divided into two programs: the virtual Growth Training Program, with participants from over 50 artisan enterprises worldwide, and the Business Accelerator Program, which focuses on Kenyan enterprises.
Sessions build capacity in areas essential for sustainable growth, including maintaining authenticity in storytelling and buyer relationships, conducting effective market research and costing, understanding fair wage structures, fostering design innovation and navigating export challenges.
Looking ahead, TTV plans to continue working with global partners to explore new ways of improving livelihoods and amplifying artisan stories. Operationally, the retailer is aligning inventory management and sales channels with consumer trends in an effort to secure its future as a reliable source of income for artisans. Furthering its impact, TTV intends to extend the Artisan Pathways Program in other parts of the world in 2026.
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