In Uganda Baskets are made out of traditional fibres, sourced locally. Baskets are made at home in between household chores, subsistence farming and looking after children.  The income from weaving enables people to uplift their lives and goes towards paying for education and food. There are two types of baskets, and both are coiled. 

The thicker coiled baskets are made out of raffia wrapped and stitched around a coil of dried grass and banana leaf stems.  The raffia is dyed and a sharp metal tool is used to aid the wrapping. These baskets are also made by wrapping raffia around a central coil but in this case the coil is made out of millet straw, which forms a much more delicate coil.  All the materials are sourced locally, and the dyes are all natural colours derived from local vegetation. Weaving is a long process, and it takes around 2 – 3 days to weave a 12-14” basket.  This is on top of harvesting, preparing and dying the materials.  Banana trees and raffia palms grow in abundance around villages and homesteads.

Traditionally baskets are used to hold food (lined with a cloth) or to carry and store household items. Many of the Ugandan homesteads have them hung on the wall as decoration.