The dream of small leather entrepreneurs
Thursday, 11 November 2010
Mainul Khawaza
Rekha Ahmed runs a seven-member family with her earning from a small leather unit in Old Dhaka's Agamachhi Lane area. She took over the business 12 years ago when her husband Sharif Ahmed became ill. And it is still the same 300-square-foot room congested further by an artificially-made floor that has housed Asha Sandal Factory. More than 20 people work there and use the room for dining and sleeping.
Rekha supplies Asha's products to a dozen shopping malls in the city but there is no trademark of her factory on the products, mostly footwear. A local company is also exporting the artisan products supplied by factories like Rekha's to a number of countries, using the brand name of the exporting company, not of the producers.
The small entrepreneur claimed that her workers with a bit of training could produce shoes of any design from around the world. Worker Mohammad Liton echoed Rekha's confidence, saying, "Give me a pair of sandal -- no matter how beautiful and complicated its design is -- I will make it as you want it to be."
"They are so confident because they can make shoes that look like export-quality shoes. But they are not aware of standard testing method as required abroad," said Mohammad Hossain, a former banker who is working for promotion of informal sector leather units by improving their quality.
Demand for artisan products like the ones made in Asha Sandal Factory are high worldwide but, industry people acknowledged, such Bangladeshi informal units lack recognition and much-needed capacity to comply with international standards. There are around 1,100 such small-scale leather units housed in unapproved buildings in Dhaka city, especially Old Dhaka and Mirpur, said Hossain quoting a survey. The number across the country is about 2,000.
"Sometimes I make good profit but most of the time we face serious uncertainties in accumulating capital and getting a market. Training for our workers and modern equipment facilities can help us explore overseas markets," Rekha said referring to challenges of running this business.
Only 45 per cent of the workforce in the leather sector, inclusive of the formal sub-sector, is skilled, according to an enterprise survey. However, the government's skills development policy, prepared recently in collaboration with the International Labour Organisation, emphasises enhancing individual employability, adapting to changing technologies and labour market and improving productivity and profitability of the enterprises.
The small leather factories once remained closed about five months a year because of seasonal patterns of sales, mainly during the festivals, said Sohel Rana who too has a small unit in Agamachhi Lane. Both factory owners and workers, he added, suffered cash crisis for their dependence on sales at trading centres.
Some of these factories may be relocated to a common compound where infrastructure, testing and training facilities would be available under a pilot project being commissioned by a commercial bank and non-government organisation. They have financed 24 small entrepreneurs in five clusters out of 20 clusters in Dhaka city.
Also, the commerce ministry with the help of another bank has recently initiated a "Credit-Plus Programme" to provide skill development training for workers and to build infrastructure and buy equipment to enable such small leather units to make quality products to meet export market standards.
Septuagenarian Shahadat Hossain, who considers himself a survivor in the volatile small business over the years, is determined to export leather goods. "I began a factory in Suritola in 1963 but I have failed branding my products. I still have a dream of exporting at least one consignment of my products," he said.
E-mail : inspirations2006@gmail.com
Rekha Ahmed runs a seven-member family with her earning from a small leather unit in Old Dhaka's Agamachhi Lane area. She took over the business 12 years ago when her husband Sharif Ahmed became ill. And it is still the same 300-square-foot room congested further by an artificially-made floor that has housed Asha Sandal Factory. More than 20 people work there and use the room for dining and sleeping.
Rekha supplies Asha's products to a dozen shopping malls in the city but there is no trademark of her factory on the products, mostly footwear. A local company is also exporting the artisan products supplied by factories like Rekha's to a number of countries, using the brand name of the exporting company, not of the producers.
The small entrepreneur claimed that her workers with a bit of training could produce shoes of any design from around the world. Worker Mohammad Liton echoed Rekha's confidence, saying, "Give me a pair of sandal -- no matter how beautiful and complicated its design is -- I will make it as you want it to be."
"They are so confident because they can make shoes that look like export-quality shoes. But they are not aware of standard testing method as required abroad," said Mohammad Hossain, a former banker who is working for promotion of informal sector leather units by improving their quality.
Demand for artisan products like the ones made in Asha Sandal Factory are high worldwide but, industry people acknowledged, such Bangladeshi informal units lack recognition and much-needed capacity to comply with international standards. There are around 1,100 such small-scale leather units housed in unapproved buildings in Dhaka city, especially Old Dhaka and Mirpur, said Hossain quoting a survey. The number across the country is about 2,000.
"Sometimes I make good profit but most of the time we face serious uncertainties in accumulating capital and getting a market. Training for our workers and modern equipment facilities can help us explore overseas markets," Rekha said referring to challenges of running this business.
Only 45 per cent of the workforce in the leather sector, inclusive of the formal sub-sector, is skilled, according to an enterprise survey. However, the government's skills development policy, prepared recently in collaboration with the International Labour Organisation, emphasises enhancing individual employability, adapting to changing technologies and labour market and improving productivity and profitability of the enterprises.
The small leather factories once remained closed about five months a year because of seasonal patterns of sales, mainly during the festivals, said Sohel Rana who too has a small unit in Agamachhi Lane. Both factory owners and workers, he added, suffered cash crisis for their dependence on sales at trading centres.
Some of these factories may be relocated to a common compound where infrastructure, testing and training facilities would be available under a pilot project being commissioned by a commercial bank and non-government organisation. They have financed 24 small entrepreneurs in five clusters out of 20 clusters in Dhaka city.
Also, the commerce ministry with the help of another bank has recently initiated a "Credit-Plus Programme" to provide skill development training for workers and to build infrastructure and buy equipment to enable such small leather units to make quality products to meet export market standards.
Septuagenarian Shahadat Hossain, who considers himself a survivor in the volatile small business over the years, is determined to export leather goods. "I began a factory in Suritola in 1963 but I have failed branding my products. I still have a dream of exporting at least one consignment of my products," he said.
E-mail : inspirations2006@gmail.com