01 Sep 2025

Shorobe Basketry Cooperative still struggles to expand their customer base in spite of their good quality and unique products.

A women dominated establishment with 32 members who produce grass-woven baskets and enjoy support from local companies and those visiting the Okavango Delta and Chobe National Park, the cooperative recently hosted Minister of Youth and Gender Affairs, Ms Lesego Chombo who paid them a visit to appreciate their work and the challenges they encountered.

 “Tourists pass by to appreciate and buy different types of baskets, some spend time to watch us weave and learn how to make baskets,” the cooperative chairperson, Ms Boipuso Nyoke said, but noted that they still struggled to access the internal market.

She however, appreciated that they were recently joined by an America peace corp who was working with them to take advantage of social media to expand their market base. The move, she said was paying dividends since they were receiving orders from local companies.

Ms Nyonke was happy that the business was doing well because it was peak season in the tourism industry. She also appreciated safari companies, that referred clients to them. Furthermore, she informed the minister that the COVID 19 pandemic was a lesson to them, to diversify their business hence they established a nursery and a garden.

For her part, the minister, Ms Chombo encouraged them to be innovative and come up with unique products that met international standards. While she pledged support in terms of marketing their products, she encouraged them to do a market research and produce that which the market needed.

She also encouraged young people to join the cooperative since they had the potential to reduce poverty and promote the spirit of self-reliance. “I am impressed that the project is not just preserving a tradition but also empowering female –headed households, supporting families and fostering self-reliance,” Ms Chombo said, and encouraged them to work as a unit in the interest of posterity. ENDS