AGBOZUME KENTE WEAVERS ASSOCIATION
QUESTIONNAIRE
*For our purpose, Agbozume area comprises Sόme, Klikor and neighbouring Anlo communities.
*The questionnaire relates to former kete weavers and weavers currently practicing the craft.
* The questionnaire was adopted in individual interviews without the presence of other respondents.
* Date of interview: 24 December 2021.

What is your name?
Agbota Frank Nugloze.
How old are you?
I am in my mid 60s
Where do you live?
Adekpuigakope
What is your major occupation?
I was doing cassava and maize farming but I stopped it for a long time because of erratic rainfall pattern here, and I took to kete weaving. It has become my main occupation because it is what our parents introduced us to at a very young age.
How long have you been weaving?
I have been weaving for about 50 years now.
How did you learn the craft?
I learnt the craft from my uncle, Mr. Amevor Adzaho. Just as I taught my children, I mastered the art of spinning yarn, setting warp and loading it into the heddle and the beater. Thereafter, I practiced the actual weaving for some time and when he realized I mastered it, he then taught me how to pick design.
What type(s) of kete do you weave?
Now, I weave only silk and occasionally aƒevɔ on order. In the past, I wove aƒe kete such as haliwé, kubi, maye and other types of kete like kpe-vee, kpanyakpanya etc.

Do you weave on order, or you sell the product at Agbozume market?
I weave both on order and for sale at the market.
If you weave on order, describe the process.
The buyer and I normally bargain and agree on the price of the cloth. The buyer then gives me an advance (more than half of the price of the cloth) to buy materials and start the work. I am paid the rest of the money if I complete the work and the client takes delivery of the cloth.
What raw materials do you use in weaving?
Now, I use cotton, rayon, shine and silk. In the past, I used afⴢkpavi, agbonogo, aƒeɖeti etc.
How do you acquire the yarn for kete weaving?
I buy the materials from retail – yarn stores at Agbozume.
Do you use the yarn kadada in weaving?
Yes, I use it especially in weaving aƒevⴢ if the cloth involves the use of kabali/kadada.
What types of designs and patterns do you weave in kete?
I do bicycle paddle, net, aleŋku, dzinudzedzi, loƒodo, amagba etc.

Aleŋku

Bicycle paddle

Why do you adopt those designs?
Buyer like them and they sell fast.
How did you get to know the designs and patterns?
I get the design sometimes from my friends. For example, if a friend comes to me now, just as you came, and he likes my design, he will also go and pick it in his cloth. Other times I see the designs at the market and sometimes a buyer will request a particular design to be done, so the client will send it either through phone or real sample of the design.
How old are those designs and patterns that you weave in kete?
The one I am weaving now is about two years but the other silk designs I have been doing them for over ten years.
How popular are they? Do people of Agbozume and neighbouring areas wear kete with those designs and patterns?
They are not popular because they are not woven by many weavers; other weavers also do different designs. About the use of the cloth, the use of our designs and patten is now gaining root here bit by bit unlike in the past, owing to what people here see elsewhere about how our kete are being used at other places. The main reason why people rarely use our kete here is that they find it expensive.
Have you invented any design or pattern in kete? If so, how did you do it? In which year?
I have not invented any design by myself but my son, Hope Nugloze did one.
What is its name, and how did he do it?
Hope Nugloze calls the design Mawu fe ɣletivi, God’s star; he designed it in 2010/2011. He indicated that the design appeared to him in a trance and he decided to pick it in kete, applying the basic principles of picking designs. He actually had the design in mind as he attempted to pick it. The challenge he faced was that he kept trying (trial and error) until he got it right. At times, he stopped weaving and went to sleep in order to reflect on how to go about the design and he got deeper insight to continue it until he was able to pick it. Designing something new takes time, but with focus and determination he was successful at picking it. It is the design he still weaves today because customers like it. Below is his design:

Do you know any women weavers?
No, in our community here women do not weave because they do not find weaving attractive. However, you may find many in the neighbourhood, such as Srohume and Avlorto.
What should we know about kete designs and patterns and their development over the years in Agbozume?
The youth have devised an easy system where designing process involves hand-picking and twining, as opposed to the traditional system where designs were hand-picked at every stage of designing process. The advantage of the modern system is that it makes the designing process faster, but the disadvantage is that the designs are one-way: the same design is done throughout the entire cloth whilst the old system allows you to create many different designs and patterns in the same cloth.
What is klogo?
It is one of the old kete we wove. It is a plain weave cloth with interlacing patten that looks like the shell of a tortoise.
What is togodo?
It is a design cloth such that when the various strips are sewn, it creates geometric shape (eto) with the main design in the middle of the geometric shape.
Is kpe-evee vɔ woven today in Agbozume and neighbouring area? If so, where?
Yes, at Adekpuigakope, Srohume, Agortorme and its surrounding areas.
In your opinion, what is the difference between kete woven today in Agbozume and Asante kente?
Asante kente is crutch woven with difficult designs which is not fast to weave, soft in texture, colourful and expensive whilst Agbozume kete is twine-woven with less difficult designs, hard in texture, heavy and less expensive.
What challenges do you face in practicing your craft? How do you deal with them?
Because of my age, I find it difficult to re-join yarn anytime they cut; I find it difficult to set warp, so I ask my children to do them for me.
Are there any obstacles discouraging the kete industry in Agbozume area?
Yes, there is the high cost of yarn, so we are only working for yarn sellers.
And the middlemen factor – the middlemen (who help buyers because of language barrier) would quote a high price for the buyer and low price for the seller (weaver), and upon that they would ask for commission for services rendered to us (weavers).
In your opinion, how should those problems be resolved?
A wholesale yarn store should be established where yarn could be sold at reasonable price for weavers.
Also, the middlemen could lead the buyers to bargain with the sellers when goods are displayed but the middlemen should not be the one determining price for the cloth.
Why do you think the kete industry in Agbozume and neighbouring areas has survived up till now?
Tradition dies hard.
What is the importance of Agbozume market in the kete industry of southern Volta Region of Ghana?
The market is important because it brings all actors in the industry together to interact with each other in order get our daily bread.