One time economically viable industry, Bolgatanga Basket industry is now struggling for patronage.
Artisans at the Bolgatanga Craft Village are worried their livelihood is being threatened because the village which should have been the trading point for all craft products has lost the attention of patrons because there are different markets in the region where similar products are.
According to them, the craft industry will only find its feet if all products produced by artisans will be concentrated at the Bolgatanga craft village.
“We need all the things produced by we the artisans here so that anybody who needs anything craft will come here and buy what they want. Like how the timber market is concentrated at one place, the craft should also be concentrated at one place in order to boost our market,” an artisan told A1 Radio news.
Basket weaving is a source of income to many households in the Upper East region. The sector employs many teaming unemployed youth who would have travelled to Southern Ghana in seek for non-existent jobs. The rural folks especially women dominate in this profit venture.
However, basket weaving seems to be collapsing due to high cost of straw. Manager of Bolga Baskets Weavers Cooperative Club (BBWCC), Asabila Charles appealed for public and private sector support.
“We don’t have the capital to buy the straw and keep so that we will be able to weave all year round. The business is there but where do we get the straw.”
But Deputy Upper East regional minister, Frank Fuseini Adongo has made a passionate appeal to the Ghana Export Promotion Authority to help rescue the sector from collapse.
Mr. Adongo made this appeal during a workshop organized by the Ghana Export Promotion Authority to support assemblies in the region to identify, develop and promote an exportable product in commercial quantity.
By: Joshua Asaah|A1radioonline.com|Ghana
