For generations, indigo connected farmers, processors, artisans, and traders in an ecosystem where local knowledge and creative skills became livelihoods.

Today, many of those connections have been lost. The Farm to Craft project, led by THIS IS US, a Nigerian creative business, aims to rebuild these connections to generate income and economic opportunity.

BESTSELLER Foundation’s funding covers the first three phases of Farm to Craft, focusing on research and activation around a historic indigo dye community, farms and processing networks. The results of this work will be gathered in a publicly accessible and interactive archive. It will also lay the groundwork for a larger fourth phase focused on renovation of the dye pits.

Rebuilding an eco-system

Rather than looking at craft in isolation, Farm to Craft takes an ecosystem approach. The ambition is to strengthen the connections across the indigo value chain and build on the knowledge and skills that already exist within it.

As Oroma Cookey-Gam, Founder and Creative Director at THIS IS US, explains:

“Over the past decade, we have worked across the indigo value chain, building a deep understanding of its strengths, challenges, and, most importantly, its opportunities. With backing from BESTSELLER Foundation, we can now build on that experience and unlock new economic and social opportunities, particularly for women and young people.”

The partnership reflects BESTSELLER Foundation’s focus on creativity as a pathway to greater economic independence, particularly for women and families.