About African Basket Weavers

Muenda Fair Trade baskets are all handwoven by women living in rural Africa. Every weaver uses indigenous fibers which are sustainably harvested and use natural dyes. Each of the baskets come with information about where and what materials are used. Many women will combine weaving with other activities; planting, harvesting, collecting firewood and water and child rearing. The basket weavers all belong to local cooperatives that Muenda Fair Trade supports. In South Africa this is the Ilala Weavers cooperative, while in Uganda we work with two cooperatives, NAWOU (National Association of Womens Organization of Uganda) and Uganda Crafts 2000 Ltd.

Open Bowl Ugandan Baskets are handwoven using raffia fiber and other local materials including stalks and leaves from the banana tree. Many are dyed with bright, vibrant colors, contemporary by design.

Traditional Ugandan Baskets also known as Rwenzori baskets are woven using a fine coil weave of millet fibers with rich natural tones in the patterns. These are traditionally used to serve food and are sturdy baskets. These beautiful baskets come from a group of women and disabled weavers in Southern Uganda. These baskets are woven in the Rwenzori mountains with snow and glacier covered peaks of close to 17,000 feet.

Zulu Baskets from Southern Africa.

Dotted on the rolling hills of Northern KwaZulu Natal, there exists a beehive of industry, where numerous Zulu women work at the art of Basket weaving. With the advent of the men moving off to seek work in the cities, the women have taken over what was once a dying craft, and turned it into an art form of world renown, and a major source of income for many families. They work in their homes, where they can incorporate basket making into their normal routine, enabling them to continue to live their tradition life-styles.

Every basket is made by hand, using indigenous raw materials. The fronds of the Ilala Palm (Hyphaene Coriacea) are commonly used to weave the fine, watertight baskets, and dyes of vegetable origin (i.e. Roots, berries, bark, leaves) to colour the palm. It can take up to one month to produce a medium-sized basket that will be unique in size, shape and pattern.

Following in the footsteps of their mothers and grandmothers, young Zulu girls are taught to weave, and by the time they reach their teens, they are fully conversant in the age-old art of Zulu Basket weaving, and many are even able to help put themselves through school with the proceeds from their work.

Ukhamba (Zulu Beer Basket):

A rigid bulb-shaped container rendered watertight by the tightness of the coil-weave, and the material used (Ilala Palm). Generally used to serve sorghum Beer on ceremonial occasions.

Isiquabetho and Iqoma (open Bowls): The Isiquabetho is a large basin-shaped basket, traditionally used for gathering and carrying grain. Popularly used in western homes as a fruit bowl. The Iqoma is a bowl-like basket with deeper and inward curving sides, also used for carrying grain. Many have a concave base, which comfortably sits upon the head.
Nut Bowls and OOPS Baskets (Out of the Ordinary Production System): These tiny bowls, which are useful for crisps, nuts or candy, are generally woven by the Zulu children, who are taught by their mothers to weave from as young as 5 years of age, thereby perpetuating a beautiful and traditional art-form.

Iqutu (Herb Baskets): The smallest of the Zulu baskets, these are not woven to be watertight, as they are used for the storage of dried herbs, for both culinary and medicinal use. They are generally bottle-shaped, although a miniature version of the Ukhamba is also used for herb or dry food storage.

benge:A small, saucer-shaped bowl, used to cover clay Ukhamba in order to keep the beer insect and dust-free. Decoration appears on the convex side, occasionally adorned with beads, latterly a textural pattern formed with dyed palm leaves.
Muenda stocks many 'one-off' baskets that are not a permanent feature of our online store. Many are from various African countries that are difficult to obtain a steady supply due to the logistics of getting them from often remote villages in unstable countries. Please contact us for pictures of our current stock of these.