The Koko dunda, this long neglected loincloth, is nowadays a national pride so that many people are interested in its making. We met Adama Sombié, one of them, on April 26, 2023 in Bobo-Dioulasso.
Koko dunda is a fabric dyed according to know-how specific to Burkinabè. After having been neglected for a long time, this loincloth, made in Bobo-Dioulasso, is making a strong comeback in 2016. It embodies the talent and creativity of the players in this field. Faced with the demand for employment which far exceeds the supply, Adama Sombié, a student at the Nazi Boni University, resident in a university residence, decides to undertake with a particular interest in the making of this 100% cotton loincloth, after undergoing prior training. ” It is because of the university delay that I decided to undertake ”. Specialized in making Koko dunda since May 2022, Adama often organizes training sessions at the rate of ten thousand CFA Francs per person. ” I make for customers and I also travel to other localities to train people”. It should be remembered that the source of motivation of this student in Biological Sciences, remains the desire to be able to do something with his ten fingers and the ascending valorization of this loincloth. He estimates that : ” Normally, you have to learn to do something with your ten fingers”. Since Adama is a student, he says he is able to reconcile his studies and this activity. ” Whatever the number of orders, I organize myself to have free time. I often make the loincloths during the day to study at night or vice versa”, explains Adama Sombie. According to him, he encounters difficulties such as the soaring price of dyeing and often of the raw material that is the fabric of manufacture. Also, he adds, there is a lack of space to spread the loincloths in production. Estimated at four thousand CFA Francs a full (in detail) and three thousand seven hundred and fifty CFA Francs (wholesale), the student says he can support himself with the benefits of this trade. Beyond the loincloths, Adama Sombié tells us that he also makes Koko dunda sheets at nine thousand CFA francs (two places) and seven thousand CFA francs (one place). ” Since I am not in the field of sewing, I look for my models and a tailor makes them for me”, he said. ” As for the moment I am in the city, I counte to look for a space to develop only for the making of Koko dunda in the future and to continue my studies”, concludes Adama Sombié.
Norrockom Edwige KAM
Yéli Valentine KAM/Interns
