Handicrafts: over-exportation of local raw materials

Local craftsmen get frustrated by the scarcity and the expensiveness of the raw materials they use to produce their products. Raw materials such as raffia and rawhide are the ones that are so scarce and expensive for the time being. The main cause of this situation is the over-exportation of those materials in country like China.

Regarding this, Rakotondrabe Bakonirina, President of the Platform of Concentration for the support of handicrafts declared that, “For two years now, Chinese operators have been over-exporting those raw materials. They travel to even the most remote areas of Madagascar to collect the products.” As for Malagasy craftsmen, since most of their workshops are located in Antananarivo, they must content themselves with the materials available on the markets of the capital which are expensive and of low quality.

Consequently, Malagasy craftsmen are currently suffering from a sharp decrease in demand for their products and from a fierce competition with Chinese products which inundate the streets of Antananarivo. Highlighting the deplorable situation of local craftsmen, Rakotondrabe Bakonirina stated that now her customers purchase only 500 items from her products per year whereas before they purchased up to 2 000 items