India's premier design school, the National Institute of Design (NID), will soon undertake a project to train and empower rural African craftswomen through design intervention in basketry-making.

“To begin with, by February-end, we shall send a team of designers from here to Zimbabwe to conduct a need assessment study. They shall find out the kind of ecosystem in which the artisans are working there and what the local market for it is,” NID Director, Mr Pradyumna Vyas, said.

The NID team visiting Zimbabwe will identify 25 craftswomen there, who would later be trained in India, in collaboration with the New Basket Workshop Foundation, an African NGO.

“The programme to be conducted here for the craftswomen from Zimbabwe shall be a trainers' training programme,” Mr Vyas said, adding that they are expected to come here by this year end.

This $1-million project, to be launched with aid from the Union Ministry of Industry and Commerce, aims at empowering women through skill enhancement and appropriate marketing through leading Indian brands like Fabindia.

The initiative will cover five African countries over the next three years.

“Design intervention in basketry craft for empowerment of women artisans from rural Africa will be undertaken through NID's outreach department, first in Zimbabwe, then Tanzania, Malawi, Ethiopia and Uganda,” Mr Vyas said

The International Center for Indian Crafts established at NID with the support of the office of Development Commissioner of Handicrafts has been initiating development activities for the craft sector.

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