Our Story
Where We Entered
We entered this work through Merkato, a place full of movement, skill, and creativity that is also shaped by constant pressure to survive day to day. Our first encounters were with women who weave, design, and sell handmade garments whose work is visible throughout the market while the people behind it remain largely unrecognized beyond their immediate surroundings. What initially appeared to be a market access issue gradually revealed itself as something deeper, not a lack of talent but a lack of visibility, stability, and control.
What We Heard and Observed
As we spent time listening, the same stories surfaced repeatedly as female startup weavers explained that they rely heavily on middlemen to reach customers because stall rents are high, foot traffic is unpredictable, and marketing is almost entirely informal. Many sell high quality products yet struggle to explain their value or reach buyers beyond the local market, leading to constant income fluctuations where one good week can be followed by several difficult ones, making planning hard and long term growth feel risky. What stood out most was not the absence of buyers but the absence of a trusted bridge between artisans and the people who want to support them, and these lived realities are documented more fully in our Community Essence Map.
Where the System Breaks
As we mapped the ecosystem, the fragmentation became clear, with artisans operating individually, middlemen controlling access, and buyers lacking direct relationships with creators, leaving no shared platform that represents the collective strength of these women. Because there is no trusted digital space, artisans remain invisible beyond Merkato, buyers struggle to verify authenticity, and cultural products lose both value and story, while intermediaries benefit and creators remain economically insecure. The full ecosystem and the power dynamics within it are explored further in our Stakeholder Map.
Naming the Real Challenge
At first, we framed the challenge as building an online marketplace, but that framing did not go far enough. The deeper issue is that female artisans are producing cultural and economic value without controlling how that value is presented, trusted, or sustained, and without a shared and trusted space their work remains undervalued, their income remains unstable, and their cultural contribution risks being diluted or lost. This understanding shaped how we articulated our Problem Statement by moving beyond commerce toward dignity and long term empowerment.
How We Changed
This process changed how we think about platforms by shifting our view of technology from a sales channel to a form of representation. Listening to these women made it clear that empowerment is not only about selling more but about being seen clearly, fairly, and on their own terms, since any platform that extracts value or treats artisans as listings would fail the people it claims to support. We also realized that trust must work in both directions, with buyers needing confidence in authenticity and artisans needing confidence that their work and identity are respected, and this internal shift is reflected more deeply in our Team Reflection.
The Direction Forward
This work points toward a shared space rather than simply an online store, where female weavers control their narrative, buyers connect directly with creators, cultural products retain their meaning, and income becomes more predictable and dignified. Any future solution must balance reach with respect, because in communities like Merkato economic empowerment begins with being seen rather than merely being sold.