The purpose of this study is to explore the opportunities and challenges of knitting and crochet crafts in Addis Ababa. To that end, an exploratory research design with qualitative approach is employed. Data are collected via in-depth interview, focus group discussion, observation and document review. Data analysis was done using thematic analysis and narration. Findings revealed that the national labour policy, the investment law, the industrial development package and the micro and small enterprises strategy as well as establishment of responsible government institutions have created promising environment for the crafts’ sector to flourish. However, absence of integration among stakeholders has resulted in various constraints such as inadequate access to working premises, lack of market linkage, inconvenient loaning schemes and absence of training on organizing and upgrading the knitting and crocheting skills of the crafters. Besides, crafters feel desperate due to their belief that the public consider knitted and crocheted craft products as old fashioned. The study concluded that, the responsible government bodies should integrate and work on creating demand for the knitting and crochet craft products by teaching elementary school students, providing further training to crafters, enable crafters’ to operate their business in organized forms and subsidize the input supplies. Otherwise, these crafts might disappear with all the potential benefits human beings could extract from them.
Keywords: challenges; crafters, crochet; knitting; opportunities
