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Meeting the challenges of the handicraft industry in Africa: Evidence from Nairobi

This article presents findings on observed productivity constraints of handicraft firms in Nairobi, Kenya. The goal is to help NGOs, intergovernmental organisations, and national governments in their efforts to foster local handicraft industries in Africa and beyond. One-hundred and two respondents were interviewed about their business, cost structure, hiring practices, and other intra-industry relationships. This article points out a number of practical problems hindering productivity and limiting livelihoods, including problematic labour practices, conditions of adverse selection, the context of proprietary information in small scale manufacturing, and the tendency of the industry toward hypercompetition.