In the remote rural areas of Guatemala, APROFAM is transforming traditional community-based distribution (CBD) of contraceptives into a social marketing program, employing a business model to automate and streamline the entire product distribution chain. In an innovative pilot project that was launched in September 2003, APROFAM was able to achieve 70 percent self-financing in just six weeks. The use of Palm PilotsT to electronically track products from the point-of-sale purchase to the inventory management at the central warehouse contributed to this result. The dramatic success led APROFAM to expand the pilot program nationwide.

Sales Activity Tracked Instantly

APROFAM's social marketing approach retains many aspects of a traditional volunteer-based CBD program while tapping into modern inventory management practices. Contraceptives are sold by "volunteer promoters" whose only income is a small percentage of sales revenue. These volunteer promoters do not engage in door-to-door visits, they are well known in their communities and operate as shopping locations where local residents know they can consistently get quality products. Like traditional CBD volunteers, these promoters are prepared to offer basic family planning/ reproductive health (FP/RH) and maternal and child health education to community members as well.

Volunteer promoters receive regular visits from APROFAM staff, "educators" who are responsible for resupply, troubleshooting, record-keeping, and general promotion. Key to the success of the program, all educators are equipped with hand-held devices (Palm PilotsT) into which they enter sales information. This sales data is uploaded to the nearest APROFAM clinic, automatically generating re-supply activity through integrated accounting and warehousing software at headquarters. Information is also fed directly into the management system, enabling APROFAM to carry out a continuous program of monitoring and evaluation that collects statistics down to the individual promoter and educator level.

Public-Private Sector Linkage

If this streamlined, automated approach to information handling sounds like something a modern business would use, that's not surprising. I t was patterned after the management system used at Pepsi of Guatemala. MSH consultants worked with Pepsi executives to adapt the beverage company's methods to satisfy the specific needs and conditions of APROFAM's Rural Development Program. Exemplifying a successful public-private partnership, APROFAM was able to borrow aspects of the Pepsi management system—routing, Palm PilotT information, supervision, and variable compensation—to serve Guatemala's FP/RH needs.

APROFAM is an important health care provider and supplier of contraceptives—Guatemala's third largest single family planning provider after the Ministry of Health and the Social Insurance Institute, both of which provide contraceptives for free. APROFAM is learning how to serve Guatemala's hard-to-reach population in a cost-effective way by devising a social marketing system that ensures supply, cuts costs, and raises quality.

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