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Livelihood Impact of Craft Sales Research Project
Carol Murphy and Helen Suich
WILD Project and EEU, MET
In partnership with Rössing Foundation and IRDNC
Background
• CBNRM Craft Development Programme has contributed to the commercialisation of basket production
• Generation of individual cash benefits to a large number of poor women is a unique feature of this plant-based CBNRM initiative
• Money to poor women is a key feature for successful poverty alleviation
• No studies done on the livelihood impact of craft sales in Namibia
• Detailed craft sales data available (RF and IRDNC to get database to continue)
• Focus on baskets (565 weavers in Caprivi sold at least one basket between 1998 and 2001)
• Other craft makers – potters and wood carvers – are on average much higher earners then weavers, but there are only 22 of them
Research
• To conduct an analysis of craft sales data in Caprivi and determine the impact that basket sales have on the livelihoods of selected basket producers
• Phase 1 – RF sales in Masokotwane and Salambala Conservancy
• Phase 2 – Mashi Crafts Co-operative (IRDNC)
Research Methods
• Orientation – field visits with RF and IRDNC, combined proposal and MOU
• Analysis of basket sales data (field records) from 16 villages in Masokotwane and Salambala
• Interviews with 24 weavers (high and middle income earners from craft sales)
Main Findings• Total RF sales figure from June 1998 to end
of 2001 was just over $N200,000
Total value of craft sales to RF, Caprivi
$N1,910
$N15,682
$N83,243
$N98,368
0
20,000
40,000
60,000
80,000
100,000
120,000
1998 1999 2000 2001
$N
• 80% of weavers earned less then $N500 each year between mid 1998 and December 2001
• In 1998 and 1999, no weaver earned over $N1,000. In 2000, 11 weavers earned over $N1,000 and in 2001 this dropped to only four women
• The highest earning weaver over the whole period received $N3,797 (though she only started selling baskets in March 1999)
• Average income in 2001 for weavers was $N147, ranging between $N6 and $N1,418
• Average income in 2001 for potters was $N164, ranging from $N10 to $N1,135
• Average income in 2001 for wood carvers was $N4,454, ranging from $N1,416 to $N8,314
• In 2001, 95% of crafters selling to RF were weavers, but they made only 85% of the total value of sales
• In the same year, the bottom 125 weavers earned only 3% of total income ($N3,026), while the top 125 women earned almost 75% between them ($N74,441)
Description of 24 female weavers interviewed
• 20 to 80 yrs
• some had never been to school and only one weaver had completed grade 12
• all women but one had children between one and nine, with an average of five
Sources of income
• For all women the three most important sources of income were:
Basket sales
Thatch grass sales
Maize sales
Sources of income compared
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Bask
et s
ales
Maize
sale
s
That
ching
gras
s sa
les
Vetko
ek s
ales
Reed
sale
s
Snuf
f sale
s
Pens
ions
Slau
ghte
ring
oxen
Rent
ing o
xen
out
Build
ing p
olesa
les
Fish
sales
Swee
t sale
s
Labo
ur
Beer
sale
s
Carv
ing b
yhu
sban
d
Sorg
hum
sales
Per c
ent (
%)
Top earners
Median earners
Average
Use of income
• For the weavers the most important uses of income (from all sources, not just craft income) were
Food
School costs
Clothes
Uses of income compared
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Food
Sch
ool c
osts
Clo
thes
Soa
p,po
wde
r, e
tc
Clin
ic/h
ospi
tal
fees
Hiri
ng o
xen
Ban
k
Hiri
ng a
trac
tor
Hou
seho
ldgo
ods
Wee
ding
Milli
ng g
rain
Tran
spor
t
Pe
r ce
nt
(%)
Top earners
Median earners
Average
Women’s control of money from basket sales
• 14 women had full control: of these half were female headed households
• 6 women made joint decisions with their husbands
• Two lost control of money by giving it to their husbands
Income-generating alternatives to weaving
Limited (none mentioned salaried labour, all activities were existing activities carried out by women):
• Ploughing to grow maize for sale
• Joining a sewing group
• Making vetkoek to sell
• Buying sorghum to make traditional beer
• Selling thatch and reeds (also reed mats)
• Collecting and selling wild fruits
• Growing vegetables to sell
• Children selling sweets
Difficulties
• Constraints to collecting and preparing natural resources
• Strenuous nature of weaving
• Low return activity
• Finding more markets
• Selling lower grade craft
Conclusions
• CBNRM Craft Development Programme has commercialised basket production in Caprivi
• RF – Total sales and numbers of producers are impressive
• Good ‘fit’ with CBNRM and livelihoods
• Monetary income from cash upfront is an important source of income for some rural women in Caprivi and has contributed to poverty alleviation
• Making and selling baskets is one income-generating activity that makes up the diverse livelihoods of rural women
• In most cases, amount of money generated is small (e.g. compared to pensions)
• Small amounts of cash to poor people have been identified as being of great significance
Basket production is a marginal, supplementary activity that is time-consuming and brings low returns BUT it is very important because:
– the development impact of basket sales income is great – money earned from craft sales is spent on basic needs (food, education, health);
– women can weave from home (so it fits in with women as homemakers/childminders); and
– very little capital is needed to make baskets, so it is an option for even very poor women.
• Transaction costs are much lower when compared to other CBNRM enterprises and the development impact is more immediate and direct
• The presence of a conservancy not essential to a successful craft programme
• Attention has been paid to sustainable use of palm dye trees (harvesting techniques and palm gardens)
• A strength is that there is collective management (mainly selling) linked to individual benefit
• Apart from cash generation, indirect benefits include increasing the crafters’ sense of pride and identity
• Craft programme has helped strengthen the role of women in the CBNRM
• Also worked to diversify the
emphasis on large mammals
Recommendations
• The Craft Development Programme is very important in terms of poverty alleviation
• There is a need to maintain the development impact of the programme
• Need for alternative income
generating activities that
are less marginal