A strategy for leveraging from wasted hides and skins in pastoral Kenya

The livestock sector in Kenya faces a cohort of challenges within the hides and skins value chain, which include low quality of raw materials, inefficient marketing structures, limited incentives for quality production, and export of raw and semi processed hides and skins. The pastoral areas, which predominate the livestock sector, are the most affected, with the bulk of hides and skins simply thrown away as waste.This study sought to gather information useful for developing a strategy for minimising dumping of unused hides and skins as waste in pastoral areas in Kenya. Secondary information sources (relevant literature) were reviewed, along with interviews of key informants knowledgeable about the livestock sector, and hides and skins business in particular, from three pastoral communities in Kenya; namely Garissa, Turkana and Samburu. It was clear that majority of pastoralists lacked information on marketing and formal markets of hides and skins, alternative uses of these by-products, and value addition options necessary to bolster benefits accruing from the trade of these materials. The other major constrains included lack of platforms for exposure to essential information, especially on entrepreneurial skills; access to capital incentives and building capacities for proper handling and thus reduction of wasted forms of hides and skins. Keywords: Capacity building, entrepreneurial skills, hides, Kenya, value addition