The Indian government through its India-Africa Craft Design Initiative has handed a major intervention to basket weavers in Ghana.
The initiative which aims to increase income generation opportunities among women on the continent is being implemented by the internationally renowned National Institute of Design (NID) in Ghana, along with four other African countries.
Through this initiative, 20 Ghanaian basket weavers were selected from Bolgatanga in the Northern region – where the activity is much concentrated— to undergo a three-phase training workshop in order to further build their creative and entrepreneurial capacities.
In view of this, the Indian High Commission in Ghana under the leadership of H.E Jeeva Sagar organized an exhibition to celebrate and showcase basketry products developed by weavers in Ghana, dubbed “Designing the difference”.
The 2-day event which took place on May 13th, 2014 at the Trade Fair Centre in Accra attracted a pool of high profile dignitaries including the Second Lady of Ghana, Mrs. Matilda Amissah-Arthur, the Deputy Minister of Tourism, Hon. Dzifa Gomashie, as well as the Canadian High Commissioner to Ghana, H.E Christopher Thornley, among others.
Mrs. Amissah-Arthur, in her address at the opening of the event, expressed gratitude toward the Indian government for undertaking the initiative to support and empower indigenous Ghanaians.
She also encouraged trainees to effectively employ the skills acquired from the training programme to add value to their crafts in order to make them more marketable.
“The whole point of this training is to make your products more sellable. More Ghanians will be willing to buy basketry products if more value is added to it” she said.
The Second Lady also urged participants to keep improving their skills in order to meet current demands and patterns; and also impart others in society.
Speaking in an interview with Diplomatic Call, the Deputy High Commissioner to Ghana, H.E Aljaneesh Kumar said that even though the initiative is part of efforts to further strengthen the ever-growing relations between India and Ghana, the Commission is equally honored to have been able to support and improve the prospect of the basket-weaving industry in the country.
“This initiative would go a long way to empower weavers in the country, because now they would have improved products to sell and command more values” he said.
According to him, basketry has the potential to help reduce the rate of unemployment in Ghana, especially in the northern sector, which happens to be the poorest region of the country.
“Basketry is massive in India; it is one of the biggest sources of income generation in the country which brings a lot of value to the people of India. I think, if this is replicated in Ghana, it could reduce significantly the level of unemployment in the country” he explained.
He therefore urged Ghanians to also patronize basketry products in order to enrich the lives of weavers in the country.
“During seasons like Christmas, people can distribute hampers made of basketry products, and in that way we would be promoting made-in-Ghana goods as well as empowering the weavers” he said.
Mrs. Paulina Ataba, one of the 20 beneficiaries of the initiative, extended gratitude to the Indian government for giving them more insight into their craft.
She said that “before attending the workshop in India, I could never imagine that my basket with hole at the centre could become such a beautiful lamp”.
Mrs. Ataba also appealed to the government of Ghana, through the Second Lady, to come to the aid of basket weavers in the country by providing them with adequate capital to expand their crafts, which according to her, continues to be a major challenge for the weavers.
The India-Africa Craft Design Initiative was first introduced in Ghana in October, after its successful culmination in Zimbabwe. So far twenty weavers have been trained through workshops in the country and at the NID in India, with an estimated 30 weavers expected to participate in the last workshop.
Implemented under the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and supported by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the India-Africa Craft Initiative targets to empower rural weavers in Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi and Zambia.
The initiative comprises of three training workshops, including a scoping field trip in the beneficiary country, beneficiaries’ trip to India to participate in workshops at the NID, and a final workshop and exhibition in beneficiaries’ home country.
By: Prince Asare, Diplomatic Call.
