Designing a Skills Development Programme for Indigenous Craft Artisans in the Nupe Craft Corridor of Niger State

The Nupe craft corridor of Niger State, encompassing Bida's traditional industries of glasswork, brasswork, weaving, and embroidery, represents a significant but economically vulnerable creative economy asset requiring professional skills development support to compete in contemporary markets. This study designed a skills development programme for indigenous craft artisans in the Bida craft corridor, Niger State, North Central Nigeria. A professional programme design methodology integrating market analysis, artisan needs assessment, and skills gap identification was employed. Market analysis confirmed growing premium demand for authentic Nigerian traditional crafts in diaspora, tourism, and interior design markets. Artisan needs assessment interviews with 40 craft producers from five trade guilds identified marketing and digital commerce (cited by 90 percent as underdeveloped), quality consistency standards (82.5 percent), business financial management (77.5 percent), and cooperative enterprise management (67.5 percent) as the highest-priority skills development needs. Traditional craft technical skills were assessed as generally high, confirming that market and business skills rather than production competence represent the primary programme focus. The programme designed comprises a 14-week intensive component covering digital commerce and social media marketing, quality standards and documentation, financial management, export procedures, and cooperative business management, supplemented by a six-month online community of practice. Expert review by eight craft industry development and vocational training specialists confirmed the programme's professional relevance. The study recommends the Niger State Investment Promotion Agency and SMEDAN jointly fund the pilot delivery.

Keywords: craft artisan development, indigenous crafts, Bida, Niger State, skills development programme