MACHAKOS DISTRICT CO-OPERATIVE UNION

Increasing the Impact of Fair Trade in Kenya

Machakos District Co-operative Union

Start: 1963

Field of action: Kenya

Members: 28 towns, over 7000 craftspeople

Machakos District Co-operative Union (MDCU) is a co-operative founded in 1964 in the city of the same name. It was initially intended for coffee producers so that they could access the markets for their products, but was then expanded to other agricultural activities and artisan. The remote area of Machakos has neither infrastructure nor sources of income; and the yield of small farmers – almost exclusively members of the Akamba population – is scarcely sufficient to feed their families.

Because of the climate in Kenya, it is difficult to grow any crop. Machakos has thus gradually turned to local handicrafts (djembe, wood sculpting, basket weaving, etc.). Of these products, 97% are exported to Europe using fair trade channels: Solidar’Monde in France, Caritas in Switzerland, GEPA in Germany, Traidcraft in Great Britain, etc. Currently, there are 28 “cooperative villages” in Machakos as well as women’s groups, which total more than 7000 craftspeople whose livelihood depends on these handicraft and commercial activities.

The MDCU offers various services to its members: advice, training, product development, assistance with marketing, and so on. Thanks to a low-rate credit system, the MDCU helps groups execute their own projects. Thus, a group of women were able to buy a parcel of land in 2000 and build a community room there. The MDCU created three nurseries, a common mill and a savings institution. The co-operative also takes an active role in the national campaign against AIDS and provides its members with information.[1]

Machakos has imposed some strict operating rules on membership in the International Federation for Alternative Trade (IFAT), conforming with fair trade standards. To strengthen fair trade in Africa, Machakos played a role in creating the COFTA (Cooperation for Fair Trade in Africa) network in early 2004.[2]

Context

The dynamism necessary required to sell in the European markets, as fair as they may be, is not to be ignored. Continuous research and product development is necessary to remain in the current markets and to conquer others.

Extending the impact of fair trade

The Fair Trade Centre supports a training programme for the members of Machakos to make products the design, development, timing and price of which are competitive and respond to market demands. These activities comprise market studies to improve understanding (customer and embassy visits, the internet and correspondence) and to design products intended to respond to market expectations, the improvement of the capacity of members to satisfy these needs and also attendance at exhibitions and fairs in Europe to benchmark the products 

[2]  www.cofta.org