Basket Weavers Association in Nyarega, a farming community in the Bolgatanga Municipality of the Upper East Region has called on government to invest in the cultivation of straw in the region to make the needed raw materials readily available.
The Association said basket weaving is one of the major sources of livelihood among many communities in the region but they are faced with the lack of straw to ensure increased production of baskets.
According to them, the ‘vetiver grass,’ also known as the ‘elephant grass,’ from which the raw materials are obtained, is cultivated in Brong-Ahafo and Ashanti Regions and is quite expensive transporting them to the region.
