Cameroon: Towards a Well Developed Handicraft
AllAfrica.com, Washington
26 July 2007
Posted to the web 26 July 2007
Lukong Pius Nyuylime
The new law sets out to put the sector in its rightful economic and social perspective.
The hiccups that have hitherto held back the development of craftwork in Cameroon may soon be a thing of the past. On 13 July this year the Head of State promulgated the law regulating the handicraft sector in Cameroon adopted by the National Assembly. The new dispensation will therefore depend on the application of this law.
The law clearly defines what handicraft is all about and classifies it into three sub sectors. These are: artistic handicraft, production handicraft and Service handicraft. The Artistic Handicraft concerns the manufacturing and marketing of objects that have aesthetic and cultural values. Production Handicraft on its part, concerns the manufacturing of furniture without necessarily seeking for industrial standards while Service Handicraft concerns the distribution in a smaller scale of necessities as well as furniture necessary for ordinary life.
The law sets out to make handicraft a veritable enterprise which must operate within well defined precincts. It provides opportunities for actors in the sector to benefit from certain advantages and services to be determined by the law. In this respect, the State and public institutions will put in place a mechanism that guarantees the survival of the handicraft sector. These include: training and advice at the base, individual assistance to management, collective technical assistance, technological assistance and marketing assistance.
According to the new law, the administration is expected to facilitate the exportation of artefacts by looking for external markets and simplifying the procedure for supplying what has been ordered by customers. The State and public institutions assure training, developing and promoting handicraft.
Actions to be carried out in this direction include: putting in place financial support mechanism, collaboration with microfinance establishment so the latter can provide minimum services to the handicraft sector and make conditions favourable for obtaining credit, putting in place of a mutual fund to cover the social risk of artists, ensuring the grouping of actors in the sector, supervising private support services to craftsmen and allocation of resources for the capacity building of craftsmen.
All these fall within the framework of government policy to completely revamp the handicraft sector by giving it a legal, fiscal and social status.