Kenya has no shortage of animal hides and a huge leather industry, but there is much inbuilt waste in the system. After leather manufacturers purchase their materials from the slaughterhouses, the low quality, third grade hides are discarded or used for dog food. Wasted hides cause both air and land pollution, as well as unpleasant smells for the people living near slaughterhouses. Another largely untapped source of hides comes from the cattle that die during the frequent droughts in northern Kenya, the loss of which can otherwise destroy the livelihoods of cattle owners.

In 2014 Kyuma Goods started by collecting discarded hides from farms and slaughterhouses to produce leather for footwear. Next, they began to partner with communities affected by drought by engaging women and young people to collect discarded waste cattle hides. They developed a 21-day training programme for collectors on how to collect and preserve the hides using natural techniques. This minimises air pollution and ensures that the hides are in good condition when Kyuma Goods collects them. Committed to removing the negative impacts of hide processing, Kyuma Goods have researched the use of vegetable extracts instead of harmful chemicals in tanning their leather. They are now researching the possibility of incorporating other plant and animal-based tanning products, such as rhubarb, red cabbage and pig manure. In addition to employing people from the local community, Kyuma Goods offers vocational skills training and serves as an incubation centre in the community. They also run an internship programme for students to come and learn from their workers. Kyuma Goods is ISO14000 certified.

This case study has been created as part of Footprints Africa's work to build the first ever comprehensive mapping of circular economy initiatives in Africa. This will lay the foundation open-source database that can inspire local initiatives, as well as inform the global dialogue, which is largely focused on the European and American contexts. We are doing this in collaboration with the African Circular Economy Network (ACEN). ACEN's vision is to build a restorative African economy that generates well-being and prosperity inclusive of all its people through new forms of economic production and consumption which maintain and regenerate its environmental resources.

The objective is to build an open-source database featuring 500 cases by the end of 2021, with strong regional representation. These will feature in the Knowledge Hub and are also being mapped by GRID-Arendal.