Reasons Kenya wants to ban the importation of leather goods Despite having the potential to make goods, a study revealed that Kenya import...
Reasons Kenya wants to ban the importation of leather goods
Despite having the potential to make goods, a study revealed that Kenya imported shoes and other leather goods valued roughly 89 million dollars in 2019.
One of the first things humans use in life is "leather," which is a good, sturdy, attractive, and long-lasting material.
But given that Kenya is a country with a large cattle population, which is associated with the creation of riches and success, it is surprising that the majority of leather-based products are hard to locate there.
A modest pocket bag costs around 4,000 shillings, whereas a women's purse costs about 42,000 shillings, or about $300.
"It is the skin of the rich, if you consider the price of how these products are sold, in fact there are those who are set aside to buy them," Camila Njeri, a teenager from Kenya, said in an interview with TRT Afrika.
"Even though we have lots of cows in our villages, I don't understand why leather goods made in Kenya are so difficult to find!"
President William Ruto appears to be the foremost expert on the resources available to his nation, including the animal population and the underdeveloped leather industry that forces the nation to rely on expensive imports of leather goods.
I'll outlaw the importation of leather shoes from other nations in two years.
In a recent speech, President Ruto emphasised that "the goal is to ensure that we produce shoes using leather from our domestic cattle."
The President lamented that although "we here give the dogs the skins taken from the bodies of our animals, on the other hand we continue to bring in these expensive shoes, about $200 or even $400 each."
There will be a shift, according to the president of Kenya, because "cowhide is what has been known since then; there is no trick or magic in the production processes.
Kenyan affluence
Kenya has over 18 million cattle, 27 million goats, over 17 million sheep, and three million camels, according to a 2019 report from the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Fisheries. To produce milk and meat, they are grown.
After an animal has been killed and the necessary organs have been removed, one of the items that may be gotten from its body is leather. However, it appears that leather is not currently used to its full potential.
According to a survey by the Kenya Manufacturers Association, more than $89 million worth of leather shoes and other products were imported in 2019.
Compared to the 70 million dollars made from the export of comparable goods the year before, the sum was highly successful.
Despite being the fifth-largest producer of cattle in Africa behind Ethiopia, Chad, Sudan, and Tanzania, a separate study by Kenya's National Planning Research Institute reveals that "the value of Kenya's income in the leather trade is very low,"
According to a decision made by President Ruto, the leather industry will receive a share of around $14 million in the first fiscal year beginning July 1, 2023.
"Butchers who sell skins for less than $1 or discard them will now receive a fair price for both the meat and the skin," he said.
The precise time
The Jokajok Luxury Leather company's creative director Tedd Josia is committed to fusing various items from the skins of animals found in Kenya and other African nations.
"Shoes, bags, and other leather products can be produced in our country to reduce the importation of such products, and balance can be created in trade and employment," he said in an interview with TRT Afrika.
Josia believes that the government's choice to concentrate on the growth of the sector is too late, despite the fact that the manufacture of African goods is crucial for development.
"These are the things that need to be done - building ways to strengthen the country's economy, which means creating strong names of African origin owned by Africans to make history," he said.
He continued, "If a decent product is made, it can lower the cost of school shoes.
"But rubber shoes are more expensive and will still be imported from abroad, but if we combine or bring in factories that process rubber, we can meet the demand," the speaker said.
The development of the sector remains behind in terms of policy and implementation, according to Beatrice Mwasi, director of the Centre for Business Innovation and Training.
About 150 billion US dollars' worth of Kenya's market share in the global leather industry, she told TRT Afrika.
The failure of medium and small size industries to take use of the development prospects that they have in terms of commercial operations, according to Mwasi, is the main obstacle impeding the development that should be accomplished.
"experts"