Chapter 9
The woodcarving industry in Kenya
Simon Kosgei Choge^1ABSTRACT
Woodcarving provides one of the most important uses of wood in Kenya both
in terms of economic returns (export value of carvings estimated at over US$20
million annually) and generation of self-employment opportunities (about
80,000 carvers who are breadwinners for over 400,000 family members). As an
informal sector economic activity, the woodcarving industry has continued to
attract a large number of unemployed people. Its enormous growth in terms
of the number of people engaged in the industry and the extent of spread in
the country is causing a major conservation problem through depletion of
limited stocks of highly favoured tree species among other socio-economic
and management challenges. This chapter describes the organisation and
conduct of the woodcarving industry in Kenya, delineates the nature of the
challenges facing it, and highlights the probable pathways through which the
industry may be sustained.INTRODUCTION
Woodcarving in Kenya is one of the forest-related enterprises with a fascinating
history dating back to 1919 (Elkan 1958; Troughear 1987). Since then the industry
has gradually expanded over the years to become one of the largest handicraft
industries in the country, and arguably in Africa, worth over US$20 million^2
annually in value of exported products and being a vital source of livelihood
for tens of thousands of carvers and hundreds of thousands of extended family
members (Obunga unpublished; Choge 2002). While it is impossible to obtain
accurate figures owing to the dynamic nature and spread of the industry,
extensive surveys carried out in the mid-1990s showed that the number of
active carvers then was between 60,000 and 80,000, supporting over 400,000Common names Part of the Management Degree of Scale of Geographic
resource used transformation trade range
Mahogany, Wood Wild Medium International Medium
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