The EFI works to improve the livelihoods of micro-entrepreneurs and marginalized community groups in East Africa, West Africa and Haiti by connecting them with large fashion houses and providing assistance for the creation of handcrafted treasures that consumers crave. Some of the world’s top fashion designers, such as Stella McCartney, Vivienne Westwood, Ilaria Venturini Fendi and Sass & Bide, support the initiative, which at its peak involved more than 7,000 artisans, most of them women.
The EFI began as a pilot project in 2007 in Kenya and Uganda. While Kenya is industrially advanced, more than half of the population lives below the poverty line. The ‘informal sector' – which includes people who are excluded from the mainstream economy and usually do not have access to banking or savings facilities – is estimated to account for more than one-third of Kenya’s gross domestic product. Since the project began, the EFI has been assisting artisans to gain a formal income and access to banking services, allowing those on limited resources to both plan and save. The Initiative’s major African hub is in the centre of Nairobi, a city of more than 3 million people where the contrast between the rich and the poor is stark. The Nairobi hub and a facility in Gilgil, in the Rift Valley, provide safe workplaces where women from diverse backgrounds are encouraged to collaborate. In Kenya, women involved in the EFI produce accessories, mostly bags, as well as jewellery and shoes. A single bag might include up to ten different craft techniques, using the skills of as many community groups as possible. In Burkina Faso, where most of the population is engaged in near-subsistence levels of agriculture, the Initiative has established a growing regional hub in Ouagadougou, the country’s capital, which also serves the EFI beneficiaries in Mali. Both countries are renowned for traditional craft techniques and their expertise in processing, dyeing and weaving cotton into beautiful fabrics that command high prices on international markets and are a great source of pride to the people who make them. Fashion designers and others in the fashion industry are sourcing these fabrics through the EFI in West Africa. The project has already made an impact on the international fashion world with a weekender bag – made with fabric woven in Burkina Faso – that featured in Vivienne Westwood’s London fashion show in February 2013. In Ghana, where almost 30% of the population survives on less than US$ 1.25 a day, there is a deep respect for handicraft traditions, along with a taste for fashion and growing manufacturing know-how. There the EFI is working with up-and-coming design talent to assist them in establishing their brands and build their businesses, providing work for a wide range of people, from seamstresses to accountants. The EFI, which is funded by Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), as well as Germany, Norway and Japan, uses fashion as a vehicle out of poverty, connecting marginalized communities, organized into business cooperatives, to international value chains in the fashion industry. It also satisfies the increasing desire of many in the fashion world to work with artisans who are paid a decent wage, have fair working conditions, and use materials that are ethically produced and sourced. The initiative empowers women, allowing them to earn a regular income, improve the circumstances of their families and their communities, grow in confidence, and gain respect. |
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