Organic in Action Action Action YNW, Senegal: Adding value through the artisanal processing of organic and Fairtrade cotton Karfa Diallo of Enda Pronat explains how artisanal textile skills are creating opportunities for local people and revitalising traditional handicrafts... The Yakaar Niani Wulli (YNW) Producer Federation is built around the production of organic and Fairtrade cotton. The 2,000 producers following organic farming standards are also Fairtrade certified. Dual certification makes the farmers more aware of their environment and also helps them to develop a wider range of crops and processing options; including fonio, bissap (hibiscus) and sesame. These crops make up a third of the total certified production by volume. Other crops are also produced which can be certified if markets develop, such as groundnut, sorghum, baobab fruits, and morringha. These food crops are produced in surplus but currently have little value in local markets. PHOTO: Sesame field inspection by FLO Cert,Sept.2009.Credit:Enda Prona
PHOTOS (Top and bottom): Mrs Thioro Ba harvesting her cotton,paniath village. Credit:Enda Pronat; Knowledge sharing at YNW.
One exception is cotton Cotton is the product of a local chain of value addition involving producers, artisans, creators and distributors. In the lands of Niani and Wulli (making up the Fédération Yakaar Niani Wulli), residents organise themselves to improve their incomes by transforming their own organic cotton into textile products. With the support of Enda Pronat, Liz Cooper, Babacar Sow and CSM (Micamisa/Confection Sur Mesure), the Federation has been able to develop quality products using traditional knowledge of spinning, dyeing, weaving and sewing. Organic cotton growing The majority of cotton is rainfed and farmers use artisanal tools which are often very basic. Conventional cotton for export offers little return and encourages the use of synthetic chemical pesticides. Converting to organic farming (certified by Ecocert) has helped improve the health of local people, the environment, and improved revenues. While pesticide poisonings are gone from organic households, this remains a problem for conventional farmers. Domestic animals are regularly affected. Organic farming has also freed women to be more active as producers, and improving their livelihoods. Today there are almost as many women farmers as men, obtaining the same yields. Artisanal Cotton Processing Spinning Harvested cotton is ginned, and then the women start spinning the cotton fiber using traditional methods. The spinning is manual and based on skill and dexterity. It is a slow process with several carding and winding operations. It takes over 100 hours of work to produce one kilo of 'ngessé' (fine yarn) with a distaff. Spinning wheels have recently been introduced that allow yarn to be made three times more quickly. The work of spinners was disappearing even though it was a good source of employment which also allowed women to gossip and supervise children! Weaving is an exclusively female occupation in the Manding, and Sarakholés villages and the rare Peul (tribal) villages. This ancestral knowledge survived thanks to traditional wedding ceremonies where spouses are dressed in traditional clothing. Weaving After producing four different types of yarn, the spinners pass their product to the weavers. Through this project, weavers have begun to use all four types of yarn again, Ngessé, fine Nguessé, Falé and big Falé to make rolls of fabric of 15cm width using traditional weaving machines. These rolls are 100 percent organic and used to make different products. Weavers use Falé and Nguessé most often as the other types are difficult to weave and are only made to order. Weaving is traditionally done mainly by men of the Manding ethnic group. Local weavers who used to clothe the local people have seen their work threatened by imported textiles. The creation of products made with traditional yarns, including quality items such as clothing, bed covers, table cloths, hand bags, caps, figures and so on open the door to new markets.
Dyeing Dyers with knowledge of natural fixing techniques are rare today in Senegal. This delicate art is reserved to certain ethnic groups and has been abandoned in favour of the use of chemical dyes and fixers. This happened to the point where indigo has been disappearing from forests despite being the plant that for centuries gave its colour to ceremonial dress as well as everyday use. Extracting the blue from the leaves of the indigo plant requires not just skill but also ritual initiation. The picking, drying, and maceration of the leave in water is always done to the accompaniment of incantations that vary according to the use of the cloth. White fabric becomes slowly sky blue then darker until it become darker then midnight blue. Each dye bath is unique for reasons linked to the moon cycle, the age of the indigo plant, the time the leaves were picked and how long they were dried in the sun or shade. For the Sarakholé ethnic group, all these factors give a unique colour to each piece dyed in the same bath. It is impossible to obtain the same blue if the bands were not dyed at the same time. The fixing techniques remain a closely guarded secret among the families which will be transmitted to the next generation only. This fixing of indigo blue using no chemical fixing is a beautiful part of this project held by an 82 year old grandmother who is instructing her four daughters in law. Thanks to this project indigo has been PHOTOS (Top and bottom): Hang weaving; Indigo dying; local textile processing at Senegal
reintroduced to the zone, and offers two advantages: soil fertility and its colour which does not disappear with washing if it is fixed by a specialist. Tailoring The tailors of the villages who are used to working with imported fabrics have been trained in the making of new products using organic cotton and the precision they need. The use of a pattern for cutting and the assembly techniques have been a new experience in order to make caps, hand bags, and figurines, to name only those that otherwise might have been made industrially. After a few days training everyone was satisfied with the results. Each of the 2,000 cotton farmers, several hundred spinners, dozens of sewers and dyers were of showing a Katob, Moussou, vélingara, or a bab's, or other textile products each made with three unique colours; indigo, white, and various striped blue and white, allowing up to 240 unique pieces (6 X 40). The tailors who are used to sewing garments with widths up to 180 cm found it hard to believe that they could make bed spreads and bags using rolls of 15cm in width. By the end of their training, joy and pride were evident on the faces of those involved. Developing value addition by artisanal means At the level of the Federation, it is a priority to develop value addition of cotton by artisanal means. This new approach allows the cotton sector to process a portion of its production. Apart from ginning, where industrial processes are called upon (which are expensive but allows access to quality fibre for spinning), all processes are artisanal. The Federation is seeking to acquire a semi-industrial gin which would save money and create some jobs as well. This is part of a programme to create rural employment and aimed at family farms with non-paying or low paying jobs. The main targets are women, young people (to encourage them to stay in their villages), disabled people, and older people. With artisanal value addition, abandoned jobs are being revitalised in production areas. Professions that young people no longer knew about are now becoming more common again in the villages of Makanding, Saraba counda, Diabou, Mboulémbou, Vélingara coto, Kolibantan, Yéro dondé, Sita kuru, etc. These jobs include spinning, weaving (with a traditional loom), dyeing with indigo, and tailoring. A simple analysis of the potential of the artisanal chain reveals that one tonne of cotton processed and sold is worth as much as 100 tonnes of seed cotton sold to the state. This does not take into account all the other potential outcomes at the economic and social level for the spinners, weavers, dyers and tailors. All these artisans are also cotton farmers or part of a cotton-farming household. Some 40 different textiles products have been created and put on the market, and some 50 artisans have been trained and have gained some revenue from the sale of their products. The Federation is now looking for markets for these products in organic and Fairtrade markets. For more information visit Enda Pronat and the Yakaar Niani Wulli Federation.
Contact Karfa Diallo ENDA-Pronat email: karfadiallo@yahoo.fr Camara Ngouye Yakaar Niani Wulli Federation email: yaniwulli@yahoo.fr Designed b y Evonne Tan Textile Exchange inspires and equips people to accelerate sustainable practices in the textile value chain. We focus on minimizing the harmful impacts and maximizing the positive effects of the global textile industry. Our signature program focuses on organic cotton value chains; improving lives for farmers, stimulating markets, and supporting best practice. Website: farmhub.textileexchange.org/ Copyright. All rights reserved.