# Vignette 11: Ghana's Kente collective

![Figure 26: Sustaining age-old traditions while tapping into emerging opportunities](/files/b4a9f1d9431f9988048abda00450f9e40d3525c6)

When UNDP Ghana's Accelerator Lab initially set out to create a savings fund for cross-border female traders, their field research revealed an unexpected direction. After extensive community consultation showed that savings wasn't the real issue, the team explored other opportunities in the border communities, ultimately discovering the untapped potential of Kente weaving.

Kente, an ancestral weaving tradition (see Figure 26) stretching across West Africa's coastal belt, represented more than just a craft; it was a source of pride and identity. However, initial observations revealed challenges: individual weavers working in isolation, limited design diversity, and quality issues that affected market access.

Working with Ignacius, a local community organizer, opened new possibilities. His deep connections helped the team understand the ecosystem's complexities, including the presence of female weavers, challenging their initial assumptions about the male-dominated craft.

The team co-designed a comprehensive intervention with the community, focusing on both skill development and business acumen. When they realized their initial training design would interrupt weavers' income, they adapted the program to include transportation support, food, and starter packs, ensuring participants could fully engage while maintaining their livelihoods.

This initiative prioritized community ownership from the outset. Recognizing the need for weavers to control their craft and gain better bargaining power in the market, the initiative facilitated the construction of a communal weaving shed. This shed, accommodating 20 weavers, provided both essential infrastructure and a collaborative workspace. More importantly, it served as a catalyst for broader change, empowering other groups to form cooperatives and collectively advocate for their rights.

The impact extended throughout the community as weavers took control of their craft's future. They standardized practices, incorporated color theory and market trends, and developed strategic thinking about their products. This increased agency enabled them to build continuing organizational structures, with support from local government and Members of Parliament, ensuring they could sustain and grow their initiative independently. The UNDP Accelerator Lab acted as facilitators and supporters throughout this process, recognizing the importance of community-led development and ensuring the weavers retained absolute control over their livelihoods. This approach proved crucial in driving real and sustainable progress.

{% hint style="info" %}

#### **Key takeaways:**

* **Empower community leadership:** Collaborate with trusted local partners to facilitate genuine community participation and ownership.
* **Address systemic conditions:** Go beyond skills development and address the conditions – such as lack of infrastructure, weak organization, and economic constraints – that hinder the community's potential.
* **Ensure sustainable transitions:** Support the community in maintaining existing livelihoods while developing new capabilities and opportunities.
* **Build for the long-term:** Help create physical and organizational structures that enable the community to sustain its development independently.
  {% endhint %}


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