Kasinde Crafts

Sustainable, Handmade & Ethical: what do we mean?

As the globe becomes more and more connected, and individuals becoming more conscious of their own consumptions, certain tenets have become more applicable than previously. These are whether what individuals consume is sustainable, ethical and handmade. At KC, we aim to meet this aspects in our entire value chain from sourcing of raw materials to how we engage with our weaving groups.

How is sustainability?

KC looks at sustainability from two perspectives: our products and the weavers who make said products. Sourcing for our fibre products (sisal, palm and reed grass) varies depending on volumes needed. These fibres are sourced from two major outlets: individual plantations and commercial plantations. With our knowledge of “keeping things local” means leaving majority of income circulating within communities, KC procures much of the fibres used in production of crafts from local traders – for sisal traders, they have a sisal decorticator from which they use to strip sisal leaves into fibres. Majority of these fibre sources are from homesteads within their respective communities. Commercial plantations are only an alternative when local traders are unable to meet fibre demands.

The other key ingredient used is dyes used to make various shades and tones of colours. Majority of the designs request for colours that are either bright or more complex colours. For these, KC sources commercial dyes. On the other hand, more earthy tones (browns, lighter blacks, grey tones) are sourced from locally available materials. To get these selected earthy tones, the weavers use singularly or in mixed forms, soil, sand, mud and charcoal. Much of these materials are sourced from their own local environments.

For our weavers, we have instituted a process of enabling resilience as a group and within their own communities. As is, majority of the weavers are subsistence farmers, depending on rainfall for much of their food requirements. On the other hand, realities on climate change – unpredictable rainfall patterns and frequency, longer drier seasons, locusts – all converging to make agriculture untenable as a primary means of livelihood. With basket weaving being dependent on accessible markets, it becomes a critical source of income for majority of the weavers. However, dependence on markets, which are affected by global shocks – Covid 19 pandemic and most recently fuel prices that increased logistical costs – requires better systems of adaptation.

Part of KC’s strategy to create sustainable households among our weaving groups is by increasing alternative income streams. KC is approaching these through skills development. With a majority of weavers being stay at home mums and grandmothers, it is essential to provide skills that require minimal investment on the weavers’ part and can be done within the vicinity of their communities. These skills also target adding value of their own products. These have included tailoring, dying various shades and financial literacy skills. Additionally, we aim to give weavers knowledge in participatory impact assessments. Ultimately, the aim is to diversify their own income streams to mitigate potential disruptions in their daily livelihood activities.

Ethical products

Organizations, institutions and businesses working amongst communities aim to generally do good. However, how the “good” is defined becomes a dilemma. KC aims to ethically engage with our various weaving groups but following a path that has a greater impact on the weavers’ livelihoods and general well-being. The main way we do this is through coming up with prices for their products. Generally, KC provides the raw materials (where applicable) and then we pay for labour (the traditional skills needed to make the products). With labour, we always aim to negotiate in a way that neither party feels aggrieved or short changed. Much of this negotiation takes place when we begin the engagement and when we introduce new products to their current portfolio.

On the other hand, we always aim to be cognizant of community events that might affect production and delivery timelines. Granted majority of our weaving groups live in rural areas, they are more connected to their neighbours as these are relatives and generational family friends. As such, when there is a communal event within the community, members are socially obligated to participate in these communal activities, reinforcing these familial and communal ties. These obligations means the weavers’ time and attention has to be shared with production of the fibre products. We do however request the weavers to inform KC in advance to avoid miscommunication and adjustment of timelines.

In conclusion, KC tries to balance between the needs of the clients with the realities of what the weaver face on a daily basis. These realities reinforce the need to be humane in our engagement, as this creates the necessary bonds of trust and cooperation needed to produce products and encourage livelihoods that are both sustainable and ethical.