Founder and Managing Director of Tribeweaves, a Kente weaving and consultancy organization based at Agbozume in the Ketu South Municipality of the Volta region, Ignatius Dela Agboli, has appealed to the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MoTI) and other relevant institutions to provide more funding for the Kente weaving industry to prevent it from collapsing.
According to him the industry which used to be a booming one had taken a downward trend in recent times due to unavailability or high cost of raw materials on the market.
Agboli made the appeal in an interview with Ghananewsonline.com.gh at Agbozume, Wednesday.
“This industry used to be a thriving one with everyone wanting to cash in on the high demand for the Kente cloth – but these days things have taken a downward trend with the exhorbitant cost of raw materials, thread, yarn etc. This is actually taking a toll on the weavers especially those operating from the Agbozume-Klikor enclave – Iam a weaver myself and when you buy raw materials at very high prices, that affects the cost of your finished product and this is turning our customers away – and you know when you don’t get market for your finished products, your source of livelihood is also threatened,” Agboli lamented.
Agboli, who is a local United Nations Development Program (UNDP) coordinator and had been working with associations of weavers in the Klikor-Agbozume enclave who were beneficiaries of a UNDP ABC Kente Program and the Kente Village Project currently under construction at Ativuta, called for urgent efforts to address the challenges facing the industry for its sustainability.
He further appealed to the MTI to ensure that the raw materials needed for sustaining the industry were readily available and affordable.
By Leo Nelson || Ghananewsonline.com.gh