Uganda keen to make the most of her crafts

A little over three years after the government of Uganda launched a $1.5 million (Shs5.6 billion) Handicraft and Souvenir Development Project (HSDP), the beneficiaries are reporting tangible results.

The project was launched on August 2, 2019, with the end goal of boosting craftsmanship and skills; production; export and tourism revenues; as well as employment, especially among the women and youth involved in this trade.

Its first phase was a three-year Tier II running from June 2019 to June 2022 on account of the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF). 

Implemented by the Tourism ministry in partnership with the International Trade Centre (ITC), the HSDP has since been given a cost extension of $200,000 (Shs741 million) that runs up to August 28.

“We are re-tooling handicrafts producers by providing them with modern tools for their work such as hacksaws, machetes and smoothing planes, as well as machines like swing arm clicking machine, electric leather skiving machine, eyeleting machines, multi-purpose lathe machines, among others,” Ms Grace Mbabazi Aulo, the HSDP project coordinator says, adding: “We have offered support to five handicraft exporting companies in attainment of fair trade certification. We are training more than 150 craft producers and associations’ representatives in quality management systems, leadership and governance and product design and market development under the training of trainers practice of the project.”

Mr Stephen Alibaruho, the managing director of the Kampala-based Big Leather Goods Limited, says his company received two machines.

“These machines have quickened our business and enabled us beauty our products,” Mr Alibaruho says of skiving machine that reduces the thinness of leather and the post bed sewing machine that stitches leather, adding: “Officials from the project first trained us in beautifying our products, marketing and online sales skills. We are trying to use these new skills but people do not have money to buy our products online.” 

Created in 2006, Big Leather Goods Limited manufactures shoes, sandals, bags, belts, wallets, and other leather goods. 

Another company—Vision Bags Uganda—operating out of Mukono District has not only “increased our market base” but also been “introduced to … e-commerce” as per its director, Mr Franco Mambi. 

“We have overseen the development of a handicrafts catalogue depicting Uganda’s authentic handicrafts and souvenirs,” Ms Aulo says, adding that some of the outcomes from the project include: “The Uganda Export Manual for Exporters, the Uganda Souvenir Development Guide, the Uganda Market Opportunity Study, and the Code of Conduct and the Branding and Marketing Strategy for the handicraft and souvenir sector.”

Ms Aulo also reckons the implementation of a Quality Management System (ISO 9001) for selected stakeholders to enhance quality in production. Yet challenges abound. 

Mr Alibaruho talks about a deficiency of machines as well as few customers. Inflationary pressures, he adds, have increased “the cost of doing business.”

“You can’t increase the prices because you can’t get buyers,” he complains.

Pre-pandemic survey

The Handicraft and Souvenir Development Project Baseline Survey 2019 carried out under the auspices of the HSDP highlights the potential of the handicrafts and souvenir sector to economically transform the livelihood of the rural communities. 

Uganda has a wide array of handicraft products ranging from basketry, mats, ceramics, beads, pottery, textiles and woven products, toys, jewellery and fashion accessories, bags, leather products, batiks, musical instruments, recycled paper products and wood products, among others. 

The survey revealed that the top four economically viable handicraft products produced by most of the artisans in Uganda are leather and leather products (20 percent), followed by basketry, mats and jewellery at 18 percent, 13 percent and 11 percent, respectively. 

Data obtained about the items produced on a monthly basis put the average monthly output at 87 leather products, 76 baskets, 31 mats, 4,777 jewellery and 466 stationery.

According to the survey, the majority of the respondents sell jewellery products highly on a monthly basis with a mean of 228. So-called weapon products are the least sold with a monthly mean of 55 that owes to their low production levels.

On average, for the top four handicrafts, leather products, baskets, mats and jewellery sell 52, 67, 18 and 228 products monthly, respectively.

Six principle constraints affecting producers as well as the micro- and small enterprises (traders and exporters) were identified. The constraints include: competition from cheaper handicrafts imports; lack of access to product design services and timely market information for new product development; lack of capacity to identify and link with buyers in all the market segments; lack of access to production financing; as well as lack of access to regular and affordable and quality raw materials.

Exports portfolio

According to the survey, Uganda’s handicrafts and souvenir sector is characterised by low production levels, inconsistent product standardisation and quality, inadequate skills in design, marketing, packaging, lack of appreciation of market preferences and requirements. 

The HSDP will, therefore, be crucial in addressing some of the identified challenges.

The main challenges facing the industry include cheaper handicraft imports, limited access to better technology, limited marketing and promotion, poor location of the production centre or group, limited demand for product, lack of credit facilities, and poor quality of local raw materials, according to Ms Aulo.

The Uganda Bureau of Statistics Abstract 2018 estimates that crafts and related works employ about eight percent of Uganda’s 15 million-strong working population.

Data extrapolated from Uganda Export Promotion Board indicates that handcrafted items were valued at $606,000 (about 2.2b) in 2017/2018. This accounts for less than 0.1 percent of the Leading Formal Exported products.

Uganda mainly exports assorted baskets, platters, decorative baskets, wooden stools, ceramic products, barkcloth products, bicycle toys, leather bags and shoes, and patched work products. Uganda exports its crafts to the USA, Norway, Italy, Germany, Netherlands, England, Kenya, Rwanda,  Ivory Coast, and Australia. 

Impact of Covid-19

One of the bottlenecks that HSDP is grappling with is the attendant effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

The pandemic curbs that were instituted across a two-year stretch heavily impacted the tourism industry, which includes the handicraft and souvenir sub-sector.

“The disruption in travel for both domestic and international visitors has led to decline in sales of the art and craft pieces,” Ms Aulo says, adding :“At least seven of 10 artisan jobs have been lost due to the pandemic.”

Mr Alibaruho also says the pandemic “disorganised our leather business sector because it [was] not a priority to buy a shoe at the moment.

“The current inflationary pressures also mean that “people are using their old pairs of shoes until they wear out or mend them.”

Ms Aulo nevertheless believes that recovery is not a long shot. 

“The sector can recover from the effects of the pandemic, but it cannot do so without government support,” she says, adding: “This should be through investing in the tourism industry and the handicrafts sector, specifically, intensifying the marketing of tourism in Uganda, supporting the skilling of artisans to increase the quality of their products.”

Minister says

Mr Tom Butime, the Tourism minister, says the government has budgeted for the continuation of training and capacity building of handicraftsmen and women as well as boosting market access and construction of modern production centres in every region during the next financial year.

“Right now we are finishing the construction of a production centre in Masindi and government has planned construction of three more, with one to be in Fort Portal and another in the eastern region,” he reveals, adding: “These production centres will enable craftsmen in each region to easily produce, showcase and sell their products.”

Uganda Handcrafts Expo 2022

After dropping all its pandemic curbs last January, Uganda held its first ever handcraft expo at the Uganda Museum grounds in Kampala from November 24 to 26. 

The event—organised by the Tourism industry—was held under the theme “Rethinking Tourism through Culture and Creative Hands.” It presented a rare opportunity for the people involved in the handicraft and souvenir sub-sector to network.

On display was a variety of products made in Uganda such as mats, bags, wood carvings, ceramics, jewellery, fashion accessories, textiles, cow horn products, leather products, music instruments, baskets, bark cloth products, coffee, leather products, horticulture, and tourism, among others, produced by Ugandan artisans. 

The Expo attracted participation from more than 100 companies from all over Uganda, all of which displayed only local products. It’s estimated that more than 10,000 people visited the exhibition as either buyers, trade visitors from businesses such as hotels, restaurants, interior decorators, and private firms as well as exporters and promoters.