WHAT IS BALOCHISTAN’S COTTAGE INDUSTRY WORTH? A SOCIO- ECONOMIC PROFILE OF THE ČAWAŢ (CHAWAT) MANUFACTURING BUSINESS IN QUETTA, BALOCHISTAN

Abstract

This case study casts light on one segment of the Baloch cottage industry. It offers a socio-economic profile of the Chawat manufacturing industry in Quetta, which is an essential part of the local home-based industry. Our field-based survey is focused on to issues that impinge positively, as well as negatively, on the growth and sustainability of this low-scale manufacturing sector. How household expenses, the ability and capacity to adapt to the market dynamics of the local economy, land flight, and widespread illiteracy influence and shape this business is explored with a case study that closes in on the making and selling of the traditional footwear, known as Chawat. The empirical data were retrieved from questionnaires, which we distributed among 100 manufacturers in the district of the provincial capital city Quetta. We used convenience sampling (a type of the non-probability sampling) for analyzing the data. The findings show significant data on literacy rate among Chawat producers and their living conditions. Their level of education appears to be attributable to the humble conditions in which the majority of Chawat producers works and lives. Moreover, there is a cultural element that deserves closer examination. It is quite common to find children in the workshops. There, they learn from their

What is Balochistan’s Cottage Industry Worth? A Socio-economic Profile of the Čawaţ (Chawat) Manufacturing Business in Quetta, Balochistan

fathers how to make this kind of shoes. Like their fathers, who acquired these professional skills from their ancestors, they miss schooling. This social analysis concludes that, on the surface of things, there is generational continuity. However, there are signs that indicate change with regard to the pattern that emerged from our data. The children of some of the interviewed manufacturers attend public schools. Whether they will carry on the business of their fathers is questionable and worth investigating. How this specialized knowledge and the skills involved in the manufacturing of this kind of footwear is transferred to the next generation is critical for establishing in what direction the Chawat industry, and, the cottage industry of Pakistan, broadly, are heading.