Kajiado: Over 100 women from Kajiado County are set to benefit from a 5-day training and capacity-building workshop on the commercialization of beadwork. The workshop, conducted by the Ushanga Kenya Initiative in partnership with the National Government Affirmative Action Fund (NGAAF), aims to empower women from pastoral communities to convert their traditional beadwork and art into marketable commodities.
According to Kenya News Agency, Culture and Heritage Principal Secretary Ummi Bashir, speaking in Oloirien, Kajiado West during the official launch of the training, stated that the capacity building aims at empowering pastoralist women by transforming their traditional beadwork into an income-generating venture and a source of sustainable livelihood, in line with the Bottom-up Economic Transformation Agenda. Bashir emphasized the importance of empowering women economically to enable them to become financially independent.
She noted that women from pastoral communities have over the years made beadwork for decoration as a part of their culture and added it was high time they benefitted fully from the work of their hands. Bashir revealed that the women will receive training on value addition to Ushanga products, blending traditional beading methods with modern techniques, and how to add professional finishes to the beadwork to enable the products to meet international standards.
Bashir added that through the Ushanga Kenya Initiative, women will be trained on how to leverage technology to sell their products online and expand their market scope. She underscored the importance of establishing a physical market where the women can sell their beadwork, adding that her office was working closely with the county government to build a market for them.
Bashir urged the women to join cooperative societies, which will provide them with a platform to collectively market their beadwork and access financial services, thereby empowering them and providing them with an opportunity to secure a sustainable livelihood.
Kajiado County Woman Representative Leah Sankaire, who accompanied the PS, lamented that women from Kajiado County were yet to fully reap financial benefits from the sale of their beadwork. Sankaire noted that there were unscrupulous individuals exploiting the women and politicizing the Ushanga Initiative. She called for the establishment of a market where the women can sell their wares, adding that the absence of a market has enabled middlemen to continue exploiting the women and making a fortune from their efforts.
Gladys Moses, the Chairlady of the Elaroi women group, reiterated Sankaire's sentiments, adding that brokers had infiltrated the beadwork industry due to the lack of a physical market in the county for the women to sell their products. The Chairlady said women from the community depend on beading to earn income and support their families, and establishing a market for them will ensure that they reap full benefits and uplift their livelihoods.
Ushanga Kenya Initiative is a national government flagship project established in 2017 to empower pastoralist women involved in beadwork by transforming their traditional art into tradable commodities for significant economic benefit and sustainable livelihoods. The initiative also seeks to strengthen business and production capacity for women from pastoralist counties, as well as improve the competitiveness of bead products in local, regional, and international markets for sustainable livelihoods. The project targets women from seven counties: Turkana, Samburu, Kajiado, Narok, Baringo, Marsabit, and West Pokot.