Building Brighter Futures: Empowering Women, Conserving Nature, through BeadWORKS

Women beaders in Kalama Community Conservancy. Photo| Roshni Lodhia.

Across the vast northern Kenya landscape, where income-generating opportunities are scarce, a remarkable transformation is taking place.

NRT Trading’s BeadWORKS, a handicraft program that taps into the region’s rich beading culture, is empowering women to monetize their traditional skills. The Program is not only generating much-needed income but is also a powerful force for positive change.

Fueled by the goal of conserving natural resources and wildlife, BeadWORKS promotes sustainable, social, and ethical enterprise and supports self-governed, community-owned conservancies. This life-changing program has created income-generating opportunities for 1,200 women in eight NRT member community conservancies, including 110 exceptional Star Beaders.

A display of NRT Trading’s BeadWORK’s products at Taronga Zoo, Sydney, Australia.

Using beads, these phenomenal women create stunning jewelry and meticulously-stitched, bags belts, and other accessories, for sale to customers in Kenya, Europe, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, as well as on the BeadWORKS e-commerce website. In many respects, BeadWORKS is a lifeline for the women in northern Kenya’s pastoralist communities.

The region faces significant challenges. Climate change poses an existential threat, disrupting northern Kenya’s once-stable livestock economy. Faced with limited options, some community members have resorted to unsustainable and unlawful income-generation practices such as tree-cutting and charcoal production. These activities degrade the environment, destroy precious natural resources, and endanger wildlife.

“Before joining the BeadWORKS Program, I would cut down trees to make charcoal for sale to provide for my family. I felt I had no choice because I was desperate for money. Through BeadWORKS, I have learned to appreciate the importance of caring for the environment.” Janet Kimiri, a BeadWORKS beneficiary from Il Ngwesi Community Conservancy, explains.

Janet’s story is not unique. Countless other women, driven by the lack of viable options, found themselves engaging in illegal economic activities. Thanks to BeadWORKS, they no longer have to. The Program has expanded the women’s horizons and instilled in them a deep appreciation for environmental stewardship. In a beautiful symbiotic relationship, the BeadWORKS women support conservation efforts by giving 5% of their total annual sales to their respective conservancies.

From 2017 to 2022 alone, these dedicated women collectively contributed an impressive Ksh 8,383,976 to their conservancies.

In the first half of 2023, the women earned Ksh 5.4 million (USD 40,000) for producing 41,462 beaded items. The women groups contributed Ksh 4.5 million (USD 33,333) from BeadWORKS income to their respective conservancies for community conservation.

Beaded items sold in domestic and international markets generated Ksh 16.5 million (USD 122,222) in sales.