If anyone looks around Shiromeda, he or she will see cultural costumes made by Chinese garment factories that could challenge the local apparel market. Many Chinese products that are made in the form of Ethiopian traditional costumes are amply available in low price so that it does not take long to join the local low-cost market.
In this regard, foreign nationals observed the market and commented that they are the ones who give value and love the true Ethiopian handmade attires. Hence, they also advised on ways what should be done to reduce the market pressure over Ethiopian handmade fabrics caused by Chinese clothing.
According to Heyley Ashkenas, who came from the United States and has lived in Ethiopia for two years, Ethiopia has long been known for manufacturing cultural cloths made from cotton wool. However, there is a need to develop strategies that will improve the textile sector, particularly the traditional ways of fabricating cultural dresses. When the products are available in greater quantity, it will boost better income for the producers and improve the sectors as well.
“I see so many men and women in rural areas who engaged in producing traditional handcrafts,” says Heyley. According to her, since the imported textiles from China dominate the market, the traditional clothing producers would not benefit from the revenue. There has to be a decision to make a limit or to ban Chinese cloths entering the local market, she says.
Besides, fervent support is needed for expanding the financial and market options for small-scale textile and apparel companies. It is also essential to make Ethiopian cultural products compete with the low-cost Chinese products in the low-cost market. It should also expand its market opportunities by opening up shops in cities, particularly Addis Ababa.
Likewise, Canadian woman Kathy Marshall, who works in exporting Ethiopian cultural clothing, estimated that 700,000 people in Ethiopia have led their lives on the production of traditional clothing. But, one of the many problems facing manufacturers is that the imports from China are controlling the market, she says.
Kathy says there is no specific policy supporting handmade products in Ethiopia; so that the Ethiopian government should develop a clear policy and strategies that support the handmade textile industry. It is also important to create a technique to modernize the market linkage for Ethiopian cultural cloths and for producers to get their inputs at a lower price.
According to Kathy, there is a need to expand opportunities for manufacturers to develop multiple products and make better use of the market. For instance, if the government pass decision such as school uniforms are traditionally made by hand only, it will encourage the manufacturers, and the sector will also be revived.
On the other hand, it is crucial that manufacturers need to make their cultural clothing registered under intellectual property rights and should use modern technologies so as to maximize their income.
The English-born Moor Tesson says that Ethiopian weavers produced expensive products because they got exhausted through the long process to make such wonderful fabrics. He also noted that cultural clothing manufacturers are moving out of the market because of the variety of clothing produced in China and offered at low prices here in Ethiopia.
According to Moor, many countries usually take protective measures to stop the importation of cheap products that might hurt those locally produced products. In Ethiopia, domestic products can be made more competitive in the market by including tax increases and other sanctions on Chinese products, he suggested.
The Ethiopian Herald february 29/2020
BY ZELALEM GIRMA
