Crafts Workshop Targets Women

MONKAGEDI GAOTLHOBOGWE
Staff Writer | Monday June 28, 2010 00:00

The training comes ahead of the planned construction of three craft shelters where the basket weavers can work during the day and storage to keep their products after completion. These structures, sponsored by the Barclay's Bank are planned for Etsha 1, Etsha 9 and Etsha 13.

The structures will have a reception area, meeting room and a rest room. It is anticipated that the shelter will be made out of indigenous materials, except for the storage and meeting room which will require a modern structure to safeguard their products.

KCS says the  main objective of establishing the craft shelters and craft studios is to enhance craft marketing in the area and to add value to already existing initiatives in the project area.  Already, the Kuru Family of Organisations, through Letloa Trust, has established craft studios in Shakawe and Nxamasere which is a vital tourism route linking Botswana to Namibia. The proposed infrastructural developments are on this route.  KCS says there are future plans to develop a regional or district craft centre in Maun. The NGO also sees  crafts as a meaningful source of income for remote and marginalised communities with limited options for revenue. 

'If the income earned is above the value of a loaf of bread and earned mainly by women, then it has a benefit. Craft can enhance traditional knowledge and skills and provide money for mainly processed food (bread, sugar, soup, tinned fish) and basic household items (soap, washing powder, candles, matches and skin lotions); and larger items such as livestock,' KCS CEO Felix Monggae said. He added that the project seeks to enhance management, conservation and utilisation of natural resources by involving Community Based Organisations (CBO's) with user rights to actively utilise the natural resources in their locality.  KCS has identified craft-related enterprise development as an important activity in the lives of the Okavango community as it augurs well with the principles of incentive based conservation.

The conservation NGO sees the project as promoting income-earning opportunities for women, and by extension ensuring that income is often more wisely spent on family livelihood investments. The women will be taught to look at market branding to optimise sales and draw attention to the diversity of the Okavango-basin, as well as enhancing concurrent training, skills sharing and awareness creating opportunities while working on crafts, particularly in the areas of health with a focus on HIV/AIDS.

'This is done through handicrafts which reflect the personalities of the people who make them, whose work is filled with a richness of culture and vibrancy. Craft is the key that can unlock doors, for even in alienated and remote places, there is always a craft maker,' said  KCS official, Gotsileone Mosimanegape. He said the project aims to establish self-managed, viable and sustainable craft enterprises. Mosimanegape said  community involvement and empowerment from the onset does not guarantee automatic income earning potential from the sale of handicraft since producers require access to natural and artificial resources, training and suitable market outlets.

Mosimangape says fair and equitable pricing structures and issues around viability, accessibility and sustainability need to be foreseen and resolved before implementing programmes. Ngamiland boasts a lucrative basket weaving culture that started in Etsha in the early 1970's due to the influx of Mbukushu refugees from Angola and the establishment of the Botswana Craft Marketing Company. Today, basketry involves organised groups or associations which are largely female dominated. Interestingly, basket weaving is very common in all 13 villages of Etsha, Tubu, Gumare and Shakawe.

The KCS has identified seven operational craft associations in Ngamiland, which are Toady through Itsoseng Bomme of Shakawe, Batshwara ka Diatla of Xaoga &Nxamasere Basket Weavers, Tsodilo Hills, Etsha Basket Project, Farmers and Basket Association, Ngwao Boswa, Matsaudi Basket Weavers, Matlapana and Bokamoso Women's Cooperative. Of the identified groups, six are located between Gumare and Shakawe while the remaining three are located between Maun and Shorobe.