masukuma wrote:murchr wrote:simonkabz wrote:Addis has quite a number of top-end Italian shoe-makers. Unye tried to revive ours, sijui hiyo maneno ilifika wapi. The Thika one nowadays produces a stench that can be smelled from Juja and beyond.....labda tumegutuka pia.
Most people do not know what to do with their hide.
it's a matter of costs really... I remember my grand pa telling me how he will sell the mbuzi hide for like 15bob or 20 bob and I was thinking...what? why would anyone bother to lift a finger for such prices. Sijui bei imefika wapi these days but in today's economy you need to make it worth my while to come can drop hide at your place. Ama we just get some brokers/middle men who zunguka during weekends and christmas to pick all the smelly things and ship them to the tannery in the same way we have people who pickup milk.
I remember a conversation I had while drinking with an old man who had ventured into the business back in the 80's
The local hides industry mainly supplies Eastern Europe. The challenge he had was the quantities he ws required to deliver on behalf of East Africa (Mombasa) vs what he actually managed. They were quite low and the collecting ship was docking only once a year.
During this period, the poor fellow had to source, purchase, collect, sort and store the dry hides. After a couple attempts he gave up for more interesting ventures.
The real issue in the leather industry is awareness and support. There are very poor guidelines to butchers and livestock farmers on what to do with the hides. We have our local processing and manufacturing industries like Kariakoo which is probably what we deserve considering the efforts we put in promoting the industry.