The Hausa Potters of Yelwa

This extended family made just one thing; unglazed spherical pots that kept water cool through evaporation, even on the hottest of days. They made hundreds of pots – every family compound in Yelwa had at least one, sitting in a shady spot. Many were sold in Yelwa market, many more were shipped by huge dugout transport canoes upriver beyond the Nigerian border, into Mali.

Nothing in this process was imported; the clay was dug on the spot, and the kiln fueled with the discarded stalks of guinea corn after harvest. There was no waste, nothing to get rid of --- only beautiful pots to use every day.