Handicraft making in Uganda is essentially a cultural, traditional and predominantly cottage industry undertaken mainly by rural women as a way of supplementing household incomes. Tradition has been that master crafts workers handover skills from generation to generation. Due to the widening generation gap, however, this is on the decline. Where master crafts‐workers still exist, their numbers have diminished considerably.
To reactivate the traditions embodied in the handicraft sector and promote environment-friendly methods of using local raw materials available in the country to produce high-quality handicrafts and promote expressions of different cultures, the Cross-Cultural Foundation of Uganda (CCFU) through its TotalEnergies Uganda Ltd funded project –Culture for Livelihood (CUL) –held a capacity building training for two women groups: Boomu Women’s Group in Masindi and Tubehamwe Crafts Group in Buliisa.
The three days training that took place at Boomu community lodge in Masindi attracted 20 participants, who were trained by Skills Centrum Rwenzori to work with sisal, raffia and banana fibers to make earrings, table-mats and wallets for women. The participants were also equipped with knowledge in business management and marketing.
The training was officially opened by Mr. Vincent Businge, the Senior Community Development Officer, Masindi District Local Government. In his remarks, Mr. Businge thanks CCFU and TotalEnergies Uganda Ltd for offering support to women and making sure that Masindi is one of the beneficiary districts.
“This project is within government’s plan to improve family incomes. It is empowering women,” he said, adding: “What destabilizes marriages and causes domestic violence is poverty, and what this project is doing is to build the capacity of women to contribute to the daily income of their homes.”
He pledged to recommend Boomu Women’s Group as one of the beneficiary groups for the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM)’s funding for the next financial year.
CUL is a one-year project that aims to empower communities to use culture and arts as a driver for locally-driven development.