“A study released by the G-Lish Foundation in 2014 revealed that Bolga Basket Weavers in the Northern part of Ghana found it difficult to earn income from basket weaving. This is because the baskets are sometimes purchased from the weavers at unfair prices.” – Coretta A. Owusu, CEO Design DUA.
After Coretta Owusu graduated law school, she wanted to do something that involved more advocacy and engaged her legal skills, but at the same time, something that empowered people in business. So she developed an interest in the arts and crafts industry in her country Ghana, particularly the basket weaving industry. She decided to return home from the United States and learn more about the industry, and what she discovered wasn’t pleasant. The industry was run by middlemen who exploited the weavers.
“Once I travelled to the north upper east of Ghana in September 2015 and learnt more about the way these baskets are sold, how much work is put into making the baskets, and the amount the weavers are paid, I decided that I really wanted to move things forward. I started to speak with different groups of basket weavers to know how things were being done and what would make them happier,” she explained to me.
Owusu thought of other things and innovative designs the weavers could come up with using the same age-old artisan craft techniques, skills and materials. Beautiful gifts and home décor, products that would attract and pull more people into the industry. However, she soon learnt that she needed high-skilled weavers, not regular ones, to move things up a notch like she wanted to. She met a young man who took her to his village where there is a government established centre for weavers. Owusu started Design DUA there, working with a group of men and women to make new designs of Bolga baskets, dog beds, etcetera.
“In the past few years, I have worked on a few concepts that I hoped would bring opportunity to marginalised people in Ghana, this is by far my favourite.”
“The first group we worked with was the women in that town (whom we still work with today.) We did a group of forty; twenty were people who were already skilled enough to make the designs we wanted, and the other twenty were trained. In training, a lot of them were able to pick up the skill.” Owusu and her team also began working with women in different villages in Ghana’s north who wove baskets at home. “We go to their homes and pick it up,” she said. She also set up a factory where mostly male weavers work.
“It’s hard for the women to join in working in our factories because they will have to leave home. The men can leave home and hire someone to man their farms, but the women have their children and other people to take care of in the community,” Owusu explained.
Since a significant part of the appeal in the basket weaving industry for Owusu was the need for advocacy, the young lady soon set up an initiative –the Fair Market Day Program (FMDP)– that ensures local artisans get a fair price for their products. According to Owusu, “the Fair Market Day program makes it possible for retailers to order high quality products from a team that works directly with artisans and makes sure they are treated fairly.”
“Many organizations in the region operate from overseas, leaving the purchase of baskets in the hands of local agents. The price paid, which is usually fixed for a very long period of time, does not always take into consideration the costs incurred by the weaver in production and sales.”
The brilliant initiative, or cooperative as Owusu described it, basically just gives local artisans access to resources and large purchase orders. When her company gets big orders for products which they (Design DUA) don’t make, they reach out to independent artisans who are registered with the cooperative and say “we are taking this order, would you like to be a part of it?” When these artisans show up, Design DUA gives them work materials like leather, and the grass for weaving, at a cost price, they get to work and get paid about 75 to 80 cedes. 15 to 20 cedes more than what they get from trades with middlemen. Design DUA simply provides the artisans a win-win deal with its FMDP; they buy work materials for less and get more pay. With FMDP, artisans can now make more than the minimum wage in Ghana if they make just two baskets in a week.
“Also, those working in our factory have electricity. Because in that rural area there’s no electricity, work often stops after 4pm. But in a place where they have electricity and everything in front of them, some of them are weaving four to five baskets a week. So it’s been a good thing to increase their income by a lot.”
Ordinarily, one would expect that a project with such positive impact is welcomed and favoured by other industry stakeholders, but it isn’t. Owusu and her team have come under attacks by competitors in the Bolga basket market. Without middlemen Design DUA’s pricing is not just fair to the artisans but also more affordable for consumers. Hence, it’s only typical that they’ll attract more artisans whose trust they’ve won, and more customers. Owusu says while popular Instagram users promote the company’s products, and some shops form partnerships with them, a few have taken to trolling the company and spreading lies about their business.
“It is appalling how companies that purport themselves as Fair Trade supporters, will do anything to stop others from selling the same products that offer opportunity to more people.”
Despite these challenges, Design DUA and the FMT thrive. When I spoke to Owusu a month ago, she said the business has made enough money for production. “I mean it’s not enough money to do everything, it still has to be topped up.” The “legally inspired entrepreneur” said the company sold only three baskets in February. In March, “we sold less than 25 baskets, and in May we sold 157 baskets.” Her major customers are wholesale stores and retailers in the US, UK, Spain, Netherlands and Australia. “We have customers from other countries as well, but those are the main markets I must say.”
Design DUA has gathered teams in three of Ghana’s ten regions. The start-up has also acquired a 9-acre piece of land where Owusu hopes to build a training facility, trainee housing, and a factory. “We will offer opportunities to hundreds of unemployed artisans throughout the country. Our goal is to bring innovation to an age old industry and awareness to thousands of artisans who remain rife in poverty after years of basket weaving and other craft work,” she wrote on her blog space on Medium. You can shop products from Design DUA here.
“Our artisan crafts should not be marketed as charitable goods, but as beautiful handmade commercial items. Our artisans won’t need hand outs if they are given a fair opportunity. The average basket weaver can make more than Ghana’s Minimum wage, if producing baskets at a fair wage.”
For more insight on Design DUA, watch video below:
