Senegal baskets are all the rage so why aren't craftswomen seeing the profits?

Africanews (in English)

Senegal baskets are all the rage so why aren't craftswomen seeing the profits?   Senegal baskets are hot, but women weavers ask where's the money?   READ MORE : http://www.africanews.com/2026/01/05/senegal-baskets-are-all-the-rage-so-why-arent-craftswomen-seeing-the-profits  Subscribe on our Dailymotion channel and receive all the latest news from the continent.    Africanews is available in English and French.  Website : www.africanews.com  Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/africanews.channel/  Twitter : https://twitter.com/africanews

Transcript

00:00Gathered in the shade of a mango tree, these women in Northwest Senegal are making baskets.

00:07Crafted out of threaded coiled reeds, they use techniques passed down from mother to daughter for generations.

00:17My grandparents and parents also practiced this trade.

00:22My mother introduced me to basket weaving at a very young age.

00:26And even when I came here to live with my husband, I continued making them and selling them at the Nagaye market.

00:34The margins on what they sell are very low.

00:37Now the artisans are asking authorities to support the manufacture and trade of the traditional baskets and the women who make them.

00:47We're requesting support from the government to make raw materials more accessible

00:53and to have customers who buy the baskets at reasonable prices.

00:58We need funding because this is the only trade we have.

01:02And today many young people have left the village to look for work elsewhere.

01:08Here in Senegal, a large laundry style basket might sell for $23 at a market after passing through a middleman.

01:18Abroad, they go for $150, but the profit doesn't reach the women who make them.

01:24In my opinion, baskets are sold at ridiculously low prices in Senegal.

01:29Senegalese women take their time to make these baskets by hand without any machinery.

01:36As the baskets' popularity grows, so does the competition.

01:41Many so-called Senegal baskets sold on the international market are made not in Senegal, but in Vietnam.

01:49Have a sign, we should go back to the village.

01:51I would love for Senegal to have what Ghana just recently had for the kente clock, which is, if it's not from Ghana, you can't call it kente.

02:01If it's not from Senegal, you can't call it Senegal basket.

02:04If it's not champagne from Champagne, you can't call it champagne.

02:07I would like to have appellation controle, so that Senegal baskets are from Senegal.

02:12For a craft imbued with so much national identity, it doesn't seem a lot to ask.

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended