Swaziland women benefit from Commonwealth training

Women from Swaziland are benefiting from a Commonwealth Secretariat programme that will see them improve their skills in producing arts and crafts.

The programme, ‘Attaining diversification and enhancing SME competitiveness in Swaziland’, was designed in March this year following an evaluation of weaknesses with regard to micro-enterprises run by women in Swaziland.

“The challenges they identified were immense and often to do with the lack of structural guidance, especially for artisans in the informal sector and rural areas,” said Watipaso Mkandawire, an adviser on agriculture in the Special Advisory Services Division of the Secretariat.

Mr Mkandawire stated the project will limit the exploitation by middle men and provide a sustainable livelihood to these poor women.

He added that the £55,000 initiative is a welcome development as the majority of rural Swazis normally undertake a variety of sub-activities alongside their main subsistence agricultural calling.

“For many artisan communities this handicraft production offers an avenue for spreading their income risk,” said Mr Mkandawire.

A female crafter, Juliet Mamvimbela-Ngwenya, manufacturing fine hand-made tapestry from mohair and other materials said: “I could not afford to procure mohair needed for my work, as I could only procure in bulk. Whereas I need only 60kg at every point in time, the distributors only supply in lots of 450kg. However, following advice I received from the expert, I am now able to procure untreated mohair at a lower cost and treat it myself and still produce quality products, and I will probably have an opportunity to sell some of it to other users.”

Key Links:

• Country Profile: Swaziland