The textile industry as a vehicle for poverty reduction : a community empowerment model.

D. Tech. Fine and Applied ArtsNo documented projects exists that can serve as a guide for the establishment of community economic development projects among women in Southern Africa with the aim to economically empower them through the manufacturing of export quality garments in large volumes. The premise for this study was therefore to investigate opportunities that could potentially result in the economic empowerment of women by equipping them with textile-related skills, in a community economic development context, to make apparel that can be exported to first-world countries. The aim of this research was to devise a community empowerment model that would facilitate a participative process that will induce change - from poverty to economic empowerment - through the medium of garment product manufacture and distribution