By Samuel SAM
The Textile Hand Weavers Association’s (THWA) seventh anniversary has been held in Tamale, with over 7,000 young boys and girls in the industry trained on entrepreneurship skills.
Over 3,000 are currently under training in all the Association members’ shops, aimed at enhancing job creation, poverty alleviation and also curbing the youths’ migration to the south to engage in menial jobs.
The training was aimed at preserving local crafts and is vital for maintaining cultural identity, boosting the economy, promoting sustainability, fostering community empowerment, encouraging creativity and also enhancing education.
With a shared passion for the craft, driven by a desire to promote and preserve traditional techniques and the improvement of members’ welfare, the Association has over 300 individual master-weavers with shops spread across the North and North-East Regions, thereby training young artisans and entrepreneurs to be job-creators.
Seven years of resilience, unity, creativity, passion, commitment and dedication to preserving the ancient art of hand weaving has helped to curb youth unemployment among the Association.
The celebration brought together stakeholders of the industry, students, traditional authorities and also members from Nalerigu,Gambaga and Walewale in the North-East Region and Tamale, Datoyili and Sheshiegu among others in the Northern Region.
At the ceremony held in Tamale, Former Municipal Chief Executive of the Sagnarigu Municipality, Hajia Mariama Iddrisu, commended the Association’s executives and trainers for their tremendous role in enhancing the youth’s welfare to curb poverty alleviation.
The former MCE, who doubles as Executive Director-Girls2Women Foundation, noted that training the young ones allows them to become financially independent and economically empowered in order to take care of their children and families.
She advised beneficiaries to take the training seriously in order to ensure value for money and resources invested.
She reiterated government commitment to supporting entrepreneurship programmes that nurture the country’s future leaders.
Kur Saban Naa, Chief of Kur Traditional Area, said the local textiles industry has been an important source of livelihood for most young ones in the North especially, but little attention have been given to the sub-sector – hence the need for government and the private sector to channel investment into the area and boost the sector.
President of the Textile Hand Weavers Association, Mad. Christiana Samani, said local artisans contribute to the local economy by creating jobs and encouraging entrepreneurship; saying the unique crafts have been attracting tourists, boosting local businesses and generating revenue for the communities.
“The Association has promoted cohesion and networking, among others, by contributing to peace in our operational areas,” she said.
According to her, the Association has over the years partnered with the National Vocational Training Institute for curriculum development and certification for trainees.
Challenges
She noted that the Association is operating without permanent premises and an office space would go a long way to ensure effective and efficient teaching and learning.
Also, high cost of raw material and thread is hindering the local businesses’ investment -adding that the price of raw materials is not only high but constantly being increased, which is affecting the members’ little profit.
“Due to high cost of materials, one is required to have enough working capital to stay in business. We therefore call on government and other organisations to support our activities by making available soft-loans to help boost our businesses,” she said.
” As THWA executives, we are unrelenting in our effort to improve the sector and therefore committed to exploring digital platforms to expand our market reach and accessibility – as well as advocating for policies that support the industry,” she added.
She therefore called on government and organisations to support the industry and increase its contribution to the country’s economic growth.
