THE BASKET SHOP> A Success Story

The handicraft sector of Waduruppa, Hambantota, had been showing many progressive changes during the past six month. After the Participatory Market Chain Analysis (PMCA) workshops, the village handcraft group has started a common production and sales centre at a rented location in the town. The problem for finding material was solved through switching to local fibres and plants. As a result of providing a handicraft production training using water hysinth (Eichhornia crassipes) they received an award for water hysinth handicraft products at a District craft exibition. One member of the group was recruited as a trainer by the National Craft Council (NCC) to train disable persons on Bag making at Ambalantota, and Hambegamuwa. Rural Enterprise Network (REN) started to provide the marketing and quality control inputs for the group. The Twenty five member group participated in a business planning workshop which helps them to improve the management and marketing skills. As a result of the interventions each of the group members were able to increase their monthly profit by Rs.1500 to Rs.2000 on average. Participatory Market system development approach was used at various degrees to identify the problems and potentials for sector development. Market mapping was the basis to determine the interventions in each of the sectors. Business Idea Generation and Business Planning training programs further strengthened the capacity of the cluster.