Building furniture to stand the test of time

DW (English)

Malawian Lefunati Tambala builds furniture against a tide of cheap imports. Her luxurious items rely on quality materials, skills and style - and they are taking off!

Transcript

00:00How can Africa free itself from dependence on China? Ifunati Tambala shows us how, using the

00:09example of furniture production in Malawi. Is her approach a blueprint for the future?

00:14Africa's got great artisans that can make a difference in this continent, but instead of

00:22supporting the people that are within, we still prefer buying products from the other side.

00:31Interior designer Lifunati Tambala was tired of not finding the furniture she wanted for

00:36her client spaces, so she launched her own furniture brand. But was it easy to differentiate

00:41her brand from the mass-produced, functional wood furniture found at Olmo Street Corner

00:46in Malawi?

00:47We believe in luxurious type of furniture. So if we are going to make a luxurious type

00:53of furniture, we have to make sure that even the materials that have been used on that type

00:57of product, they are of good quality. And this is what mostly differentiates our product from

01:05the other products that we can find on the market.

01:08Creating high-end furniture requires skill, precision and a deep understanding of the craft.

01:14The use of different designs that are kind of new to the faces of people to the world

01:21are kind of challenging because we have to learn on how to do them and study them better

01:26so that we get there. I have learned to make different types of designs like a stool, benches,

01:35old roman, and different designs like tufting on the beds and the headboards and even on the old roman benches.

01:45Malawians are increasingly embracing their own vibrant style and celebrating local creativity.

01:51What does that mean in the context of the home's furniture and the materials they use? And do they have

01:57any impact on Malawi? When we are doing our projects here, the first things first, we need to identify

02:04the best wood. So we buy the best wood. Mostly here we use a pine, which is a soft wood. So when

02:11we get the pine, we start cutting the shapes of the couch depending on the design that the client has

02:19given us. So once the shape has been done and we've started fixing the pieces together, the next step that

02:27comes, we fix the springs and the webbing. And once that is done, that's when we come up with the

02:35curricles, we come up with the forms, and then later on upholstery. That's when our tellers start to

02:41put the fabrics together on the couches. But in a market often filled with affordable imports from

02:48China, Zambia, and South Africa, does Lufunati's model actually have a chance of long-term success?

02:55We can see it running even for more years to come because of the support that we're getting from

03:02our customers within Malawi and customers from other countries. People have developed so much trust

03:07in the home products because it's one product that is durable as compared to other products that are

03:14coming in from other countries. So a business sustainability depends on how people are receiving

03:22your products on the market. The first attraction was the one-day unique design, but also the locally

03:30built materials, but also just the personality and the interactions we had heard from people about

03:37the owners and just how they go about doing business. Everything is local, you can speak to

03:42them locally, and also just the general discussion on how to stage your project which was flexible in

03:50nature and fitted our plan. So if you continue getting the support that we're getting right now,

03:55the business is going to go even far. Is this why Lufunati is so determined to create high-end furniture

04:01in Malawi? And could her motivations offer a clue to a larger shift in Africa's economic mindset?

04:08Lehome has created jobs for the local people. So because of that, it's able to empower a local man

04:16in the village to be able to put food on his table. And because of that, the little amount which they're

04:22able to get from Lehome, they're able to, you know, to take their kids to school, thereby, you know,

04:28alleviating poverty in the villages or poverty at the household level. While taking cues from

04:34international interior design trends, Malawian interior designers are seeding through pieces

04:40that speak uniquely of home. Lufunati Tambala is not just furnishing homes, she's building a case

04:47for greater economic self-reliance.

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