Mutsvangwa Launches Arts and Craft Union, Calls for Land for Cooperatives
Thembelihle Mhlanga
VICTORIA FALLS — Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Minister Monica Mutsvangwa has launched the Arts and Craft Cooperative Union in Matabeleland North and called on local authorities to allocate land to arts and craft cooperatives to help reduce the cost of operating spaces for artisans.
Speaking during the launch in Victoria Falls, Mutsvangwa said designated and affordable spaces would ease the pressure of high rents on artisans and small businesses.
“We are appealing to local authorities to support our creative sector by allocating land for arts and craft cooperatives to ease them from paying high rents. As a ministry, we have put up a fund to assist cooperatives and SMEs, and I strongly encourage our producers to take their place and access these resources to grow their businesses,” Mutsvangwa said.
She also said her ministry had established a fund to assist cooperatives and small and medium enterprises, urging arts and craft producers to access the available resources to grow their businesses.
The call for affordable operating spaces comes as artisans and other small producers face the cost of renting places from which to operate and sell their products.
Zimbabwe National Co-operative Federation President Mike Duru said high rents and inadequate trading infrastructure were putting pressure on small-scale producers.
“Cooperatives are bearing the brunt of high rents and a lack of proper trading areas. We cannot expect micro-enterprises to survive when most of their revenue goes toward rental fees instead of raw materials and expansion. We need a holistic approach to this problem so that no one is left behind,” Duru said.
Price Tshuma, inaugural chairperson of the Matabeleland North Arts and Craft Union, said artisans in the province were also affected by limited access to affordable trading and production spaces.
“Artisans in Matabeleland North are facing the exact same challenges right here on the ground. We are bearing the brunt of high rents and lack of proper trading spaces, which makes it extremely difficult for craft producers to earn a sustainable living. The Minister’s directive for local authorities to allocate land is a welcome move, and we hope local councils will act quickly to give us secure areas to work from,” Tshuma said.
The newly established Arts and Craft Cooperative Union is intended to bring individual creators into a cooperative structure, enabling members to pool resources and potentially improve their access to raw materials, markets and government support.
According to ministry officials, provincial officers will engage local authorities, including the Victoria Falls City Council and surrounding rural district councils, to identify possible sites for craft markets and production hubs.
The initiative is linked to National Development Strategy 1, which includes measures aimed at supporting small and medium enterprises, value addition, and economic empowerment.
The launch places the focus on whether local authorities will now identify and make available suitable spaces for arts and craft cooperatives, as called for by the minister.
