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people and the possibilities. A lot of what I will be talking about is going to seem very small scale
compared to what you have seen in terms of Max Havelaar bananas, coffee and tea. But I think my
role here today is to talk about the possibilities of how we make this a little bit bigger, because it is
also an important part of Fair Trade.
The importance of handicrafts
So to begin, I will not assume anything. As a guideline, when I talk about handicrafts I am talking
about something that is made by hand or by simple tools, but not with machinery. It is something that
is not mass-produced in a manufacturing kind of set up. Handicrafts are also something that really has
artistic or cultural influence. This is what I mean when I talk about handicrafts. When it comes into
the market perspective, handicrafts is also categorized as what you know as gifts and living and life -
style products. This includes as an example candles, glass, fashion and accessories, household décor,
textiles and a long list of items you use everyday in your household, and that people buy every day in
the supermarket. A lot of these products come from a mass-produced manufacturing set-up, and there
is potential to change some of this and enter into niche markets with handicrafts. But in summary, as a
definition this is what I mean when I talk about handicrafts.
There are a number of reasons why handicrafts are important. I am going to first start with the economic
scope. I have lived in Kenya most of my life, and in my country, as an example, handicrafts are con -
sidered part of what is the informal sector in Africa. Because this sector is considered “informal,”
there is very little support coming to this sector from both governments and from NGOs. A lot of these
bodies prefer to provide their support to the agricultural sector and to the industrial and
manufacturing sector because this is considered formal.
So the informal sector, where handicrafts fit, is something that has been greatly ignored, yet it has such
a large contribution to the economic empowerment of the continent. For example, in sub-Saharan Africa
the informal sector contributes between 48 and 72 per cent of the gross national income. It is higher
in the countries that have smaller economies or are struggling economically, such as Zimbabwe – which
should have about 72 per cent – and much lower in the stronger economies like South Africa, that will
have about 48 per cent. So imagine that: 48 to 72 per cent of the gross national income is informal
sector, so it should in fact not be ignored.
Second, in terms of employment, it is a fact, particularly in countries in sub-Saharan Africa, that the
informal sector is responsible for close to 60 per cent of employment, and about 80 per cent of new
job creation – particularly in times of economic hardship. When people cannot get work in the formal
sector they always fall back to the informal sector. We find this happens during hard economic
times – that is why Zimbabwe has about 72 per cent contribution to GNI – people fall back on the
informal sector.
If I can speak specifically about two countries in particular: In Kenya the informal sector, which is
known as “jua kali”, contributes between 10 and 20 per cent to the economy. In South Africa it is
10 to 12 per cent of the whole economy of the country. This is quite a big contribution, which should
in fact mean that a lot of support is needed to the information sector. With this support how much
more would it contribute to the economies of developing countries. Currently, there is not really any
organization or public office collecting relevant data or statistics regularly to find out how much the
informal sector is contributing to our economy, and how it can be enhance. A lot of the information
that we get, even from the World Bank, even from the ILO is categorized as estimates, and we not able
to give specific information.
Another thing that makes handicrafts very important to Africa is that it is one of the few sectors in
which Africa has a comparative advantage, that is, where we have the power to compete. This is for a
number of reasons that I will proceed to explain. Realistically, there are a lot of sectors where Africa is
never going to compete with other regions such as Asia, or other more developed countries and econo -
mies such as China, India, or the U.S among others. I do not imagine that there will come a time when
Kenya will be competing in terms of nuclear energy, to give an example, or in terms of having a satellite
on the moon that increasing communication technology, or studying how Mars can become a new
place for us to live – this is not going to happen.
Empowerment through markets
As a continent, we have to look at the sectors where we have a comparative advantage and where we
can successfully compete and become market leaders. And it is a fact that in handicrafts do have a
comparative advantage; firstly because of the unique cultural elements of our products. As I mentioned
earlier, handicrafts are based on our cultural and artistic property. A lot of the large commercial
organizations have started to see that, and I will give you an example. Bogolan is a fabric, or textile,
that comes from West Africa – it is similar to what I am wearing today. Nike has in the past designed a
special edition sneaker. Nike a big international brand has seen something that is commercially viable
from African culture and crafts. The company has positioned this special edition bogolan shoe and
are selling this shoe for hundreds of dollars, in large quantities.
On the other hand, the people who are the owners of bogolan, that is the community to which this
cultural item belongs, are they getting a percentage of these sales? Are they getting a benefit from the
exploitation of their cultural property? I think that is the question that we need to ask ourselves. That
is not the only example. A famous fashion designer, the late Alexander McQueen, I think some of you
might know him, showed in one of his collections, about two years ago, a new design, a new fabric, a
new thing that he was going to commercialize, and it was actually based on Ethiopian traditional weaving
skills. And many more cases exist today.
The potential to commercialize and empower people through handicraft is very real, because large
companies are starting to see this, and exploit it. And we need to also see this as Fair Traders. I do not
know if you have heard of the Maasai Barefoot Technology shoe, MBT, based on the cultural foot wear
of the Maasai. The Maasai and their culture fascinate many people. One of the things that is greatly
admires is how the Maasai stand so tall, they walk very straight and upright, they take long steady
strides. The MBT shoe is based on lessons learnt from the Maasai their culture and how they do things,
and it is selling for hundreds and hundreds of dollars. How can we transform this cultural property
that exists in Africa to help empower the communities in Africa? It is something that is really important
– the unique cultural elements. How can Fair Trade take this and work to commercialize it in a
sustainable way that results in the economic empowerment of people.
The skills are already exists within Africa – it is something that the communities can already do. We just
need to upgrade the skills, and scale it up into something that becomes commercially viable. There is
also the existence of raw materials. The majority of handicraft products are based on materials that
are found in Africa and that are sustainable in our environments. The main thing needed for handi crafts
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