Tafea Handicraft Products Reach Overseas Markets, Supporting Women Producers

October 5, 2026 10:42 pm | Posted in Business News | Share now TwitterFacebook

By Ezra Toara.

Handicrafts made by women in TAFEA are reaching overseas markets, including the Auckland Museum in New Zealand, creating income opportunities for mothers and local producers across the province.

Ericka Mabon, who looks after the TAFEA Handicraft Market in Tanna, said the growing market for locally made products is helping women earn money to support themselves and their families.

She said training provided to the women is helping them improve their skills and produce quality handicrafts that meet the expectations of local and international buyers.

Mabon said buying products directly from the mothers gives them an opportunity to earn an income while allowing their traditional skills and locally made products to reach markets outside Vanuatu.

The TAFEA Handicraft Market has a building in Lenakel where products purchased from local producers are stored before being sold.

“When we buy the products from the mothers, we put them inside the building and then we can sell them,” she said.

Mabon said the storage facility also makes it easier for the market to prepare products for major events.

“When it comes to events like Vanuatu Made and other events, we can take the products from the building and bring them to sell and put them on display,” she said.

Vanuatu Skills Partnership (VSP) has also been assisting the women to attend events where they can showcase their products and introduce their handicrafts to potential customers, she said.

Mabon said the TAFEA Handicraft Market attends the Vanuatu Made exhibition every year because it provides an opportunity for local producers to promote and sell their products.

She said the market recently participated in a one-day training organised by the Vanuatu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), which was the first training of its kind she had attended.

The training helped participants understand how to communicate with clients and customers and provided an opportunity to meet other associations and groups of women selling their products, Mabon said.

She said it also helped them better understand what buyers are looking for and the types of products customers want.

Mabon said the market hopes to apply the knowledge gained from the training to improve the way it works with customers and producers.

The TAFEA Handicraft Market sells locally made products from Tanna and the outer islands of TAFEA.

She said the market buys products directly from producers across TAFEA, helping create a reliable market for their handicrafts.

VSP is also supporting mothers through training designed to upskill them and help them produce higher-quality products for sale through the market, Mabon said.

The market provides an opportunity for the women to reach local customers as well as tourists visiting TAFEA.

“The people and customers who come inside the hub are not only local customers. We also target tourists,” she said.

Mabon said the training is important because it helps the mothers strengthen the skills they already have and improve the quality of their products.

For the women producers in TAFEA, she said access to training, markets and opportunities to sell their products overseas can make an important difference to their livelihoods and financial wellbeing.