Bezalila was formed as a central co-operative to unite disparate workshops in Madagascar in 1994. The separate workshops were creating beautiful and unique handicrafts but with no experience of the Western market they were unable to reach the wider world. Bezalila is able to provide employment following fair trading guidelines as well as a link to further afield, which in turn generates much needed income for local people. With profits generated in the workshops, artisans have been able to build their own houses, buy rice paddies and establish a pig-breeding farm. Bezalila provides Fair Trade employment to formerly impoverished artisans in crafts including the modelling of recycled tin cans, called "Kapoaka". With the profits generated by the workshops, the Kapoaka artisans have built their houses, bought rice fields and established a pig-breeding farm.