Access to Rural Non-Farm Livelihoods - Natural Resources Institute

At a small scale, brewing is not considered to be very profitable, particularly in comparison
with growing crops for sale, but it can play an important role by providing income monthly
as opposed to seasonally, and in spreading risk.
Handicrafts are undertaken by women, both in groups and individually. Typically they are
undertaken by poorer women, particularly widows, and are generally not very profitable,
although to the poorest, even a very small amount of income can be significant. Those who
depend on the income from handicrafts are often poorly educated and are “pushed” into the
activity by necessity and lack of other options, as opposed to those who have other sources of
income, and who undertake handicrafts as a social activity as much as an economic one 103 .
Box 14. The Kitambuza Women's Group 104
The group was formed in 1997, and originally comprised six women, although now it has
grown to ten. All are from Kitambuza, and knew one another or of one another before they
joined. Each paid a joining fee of 1,000 shillings (~US$ 0.5) , and then a monthly
membership fee of 500 shillings. Most got the joining fee from the sale of matooke, but now
pay the monthly fee from the sale of handicrafts or pigs, or if it has not been a good month,
from the sale of crops. If a member has had a particularly hard month she is allowed to delay
payment until she can afford it. The idea to form a group came from Mrs Latto, who heard
about the value of groups on Radio Uganda 105 . Before that, each woman had been farming on
her own, but harsh weather conditions associated with El Nino in 1997 resulted in farming
incomes becoming inadequate, and thus they decided to form a group. They started with
handicrafts – making clay pots, baskets and mats, and doilies and tablecloths – and working
co-operatively on one another’s farms. At the beginning of 2000 they also started raising pigs
following a training seminar from LWF. They have two pigs – a male and a female – which
Mrs Latto keeps on her land, although the whole group contributes to the costs of feeding
them and veterinary care (separately from the regular group membership fees). Typically each
woman works on the handicrafts in her spare time 106 , and then the group comes together at
their “workshop” 107 on Saturday afternoons to see how far they have got, learn from one
other, and work together as a group. Others who are not members often come to watch, learn,
socialise, and sometimes to buy products. They do not want to join, however, either because
they are part of another group, or because they have been members of other unsuccessful
groups in the past and are sceptical. Some of the members used to make handicrafts
individually before the group came together, and all of the skills are traditional, and learnt
from the older generations. The best clay comes from very deep in the ground – the women
sometimes get local men to dig it for them in return for a small payment in kind (such as
sugar), but they work it and make and fire the pots themselves. The fibre for making baskets
is purchased from local farmers, except for the banana fibre, which the women provide
themselves. Wool and Cloth for the doilies and tablecloths are bought from shops in
Lwentulege. Most sales are to other people in the village who come to the workshop. Pots
cost 2,000 shillings, baskets 1,000 shillings, mats 7,000 shillings, doilies 10,000 shillings, and
large table cloths 20,000 shillings. Except for pots, sales are rare – it is not unusual for there
to be no sales other than pots in a month, although business picks up after the harvest period
when people have more money. Thus the activity was primarily viewed as a leisure or social
activity as opposed to a business, although the women put more time and effort into it when
farming is poor, such as during droughts when they both have more time, and need the
income most.
103 See also Box 17.
104 For a list of members see Appendix 13.
105 Mrs Latto is a well educated, well informed woman whose husband owns a retail shop in Lwentulege.
Although they care for five orphans as well as their own five children, she and her husband are relatively well
off, and are able to pay for farm labour and afford a few luxury items, such as a small 12V television. She is
also the local contact person for Lutheran World Federation (LWF).
106 A typical day for a woman starts with farm work in the morning, and then often social obligations such
visiting relatives, caring for the sick, and attending burials in the afternoons, as well as general housework and
childcare.
107 An unused garage attached to the home of one of the members in the centre of the village.
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