West Africa Cotton Improvement Program - Chad

Summary

Building on the successes and lessons learned from Aid to Artisans’ programs in Africa and textile-producing communities around the world, ATA intends to expand income-generating opportunities for cotton-producing communities by enhancing strategic market access, improving product offerings, and building business management capacity. ATA targeted artisans whose activities could be harnessed to add value to domestically produced or processed cotton and/or who reside within cotton-producing regions – thereby contributing to rural economies. Artisans in the C-4 countries continue to innovate with unique treatments and embellishments, from indigo and bogolan dyeing techniques in Mali, to appliqué in Benin depicting the conquests of the ancient kingdom of Abomey, and woven cotton wrappers in Burkina Faso.

Accomplishments as of January 2013

3 regional training workshops in Mali, Benin, and Burkina Faso were sponsored in French on production efficiency, quality control, US color trends, and design, benefiting 34 artisan enterprises from Benin, Mali, Chad, and Burkina Faso.
3866 artisans living in these four countries are benefiting directly and indirectly from this project among which about 80% are women.
8 international product development design consultancies were arranged which helped artisans take part in major international and regional trade fairs and generating more than $1.5 millions in sales
Handmade textiles from 16 Artisan enterprises were represented at 5 New York International Gift Fair exhibitions including January 2013.
2 local designs coordinators provided technical support to 13 artisan enterprises in Mali and Burkina Faso in developing new product designs and new samples.
18 artisans from Chad, Mali, Benin, and Burkina Faso participated at the Salon International d’ Artisanat de Ouagadougou (SIAO) in 2008, 2010, and 2012. They generated about $75,000 in sales combined at those fairs.
7 international buyer incentive trips from US, Europe, and Southern Africa were organized in the region.
More than 25 market links were established including Sundance Catalogue, West Elms, Eco Arts Markets, ABC Carpet and Home, and Charity USA.
9 artisans joined Facebook in order to improve their communication access among themselves and buyers.
1 Facebook Page “Artisans Journal” was created after a Design Seminar in which the artisans can get easy access to resources on US trends, colors, and designs to improve their product collection independently.