Cotton Processing, Food Security and Ex-Poachers

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Jun 05 2009 | By: gvikenya

We recently returned to Mahandakini, a village located in the southern part of Kenya close to the border with Tanzania. The village has a population of around 2,000 people, many of whom having given up poaching in nearby Tsavo West National Park and have been seeking to engage in sustainable income generating activities. GVI’s role is to assist the community with capacity building to support alternative livelihoods. During our week long trip to Mahandakini we continued where we left off last time, developing a Food Security Programme for the community and cotton processing industry that Mahandakini is endeavoring to establish.

Throughout the week at Mahandakini, we worked in two groups; the first focused on developing the Food Security Programme, whilst the second spent time assisting with the development of a cottage cotton industry in Mahandakini. as part of the Cotton Processing group we worked through problem solving with the community, providing training on using natural dyes and assisting with financial management. The primary obstacle facing the cotton processing industry in Mahanadakini is the lack of funds for the processing and ginning machines necessary to undertake large scale cotton processing. Over the week, we managed to initiate a plan for the community to develop the cotton industry by selling the cotton they are already growing, and buying cotton material which can be dyed and manufactured into value-added products. In this way the community will be able to start generating income immediately, some of which can be used to save up for the cotton processing equipment required for spinning and weaving.

Our week wasn’t all about cotton though; we took time to visit some of the amazing sights in the local area. We visited caves which were used by British soldiers who were fighting in Kenya during World War 2 and are now home to thousands of bats, went swimming at beautiful Njoro Spings the source of which is melt water from Mt. Kilimanjaro, and visited Ziwani Voyager Ranch, a great opportunity to see some local wildlife including elephants, hippopotamus, zebra, antelopes and a vast array of birdlife. Finally the week culminated with a wonderful traditional dinner prepared by some of the women from the ex-poachers group; the community invited us to share a meal with them as a sign of their appreciation for the work we had achieved together!