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Our Catalog > Summer Sisal from Kenya

Summer Sisal from Kenya

Turn to page 179 of the July '08 issue of InStyle magazine, and you'll find our handmade Kenyan sisal baskets. Here is the story behind these great fair trade accessories!

WORKING WOMEN. A cooperative of Kamba women in Kitui, Kenya, dye and weave tough fibers extracted from the spikey leaves of the agave sisalana plant, commonly known as sisal. A skilled weaver can produce one basket in an eight hour workday, and smaller items like coasters and place mats are completed quickly on a loom. Weavers receive payment per completed piece, and either work from their own homes or at the cooperative's farm, where weavers come together for training, materials and support.

FUNDING FUTURES. Kamba people in Kitui typically live on their own land, and it is customary for Kamba women to meet their family's dietary needs with gardens of maize, squash and other veggies that grow in Kitui's semi-arid climate. Since most food is grown at home, the income earned from weaving is applied to school fees, clothing and health care.

UPDATING THE CRAFT. Sisal was introduced to Kenya from Mexico and Central America toward the end of the 1800s, but Kenya now produces a large portion of the world's sisal supply. For Kamba women, adapting their traditional weaving skills to utilize this locally-grown plant made perfect sense, and what started as a group of 25 weavers has now burgeoned to a huge group of 900 women, with an extended family group of 4500 benefiting from the cooperative's income.