Natural leather: A valuable rarity!

Natural leather from free ranging and happy animals, tanned without chemical additives and processed by hand - does this still exist? We got lucky in the Maasai village of Kitumbeine in the north of Tanzania - a small community project with a lot of potential!

Challenge: Where to find the sales market?

The project on local leather production and processing was initially founded by the 3 NGOs World Vision Tanzania, Pastoral Women's Council and Oikos. A spacious factory, training courses and a network of motivated project participants were successfully established.


When we first made contact with the leather group in August 2020, we quickly recognized their incredible potential. At the same time, however, we witnessed the recurring challenges that threatened the existence of the project. The project participants told us about the following difficulties:

• Lack of orders and network to potential customers

• Great distances to sales markets

• Bad experiences with traders from Arusha (fraud)

• Lack of knowledge in product design

Cooperation: Collective learning and progress

The high potential and the simultaneous challenges of the leather group in Kitumbeine impelled us to enter into a cooperation. In mutual exchange we learned a lot about natural tanning and the subsequent processing of leather. In return, we support the leather group with further training in design and product manufacturing. Engoitoi Epuan buys the products that have been developed together and then offers them for resale. Moreover, wherever possible, we link the leather group to our own local network to provide them with additional orders.

Alternative source of income: Steps into the future!

The leather project built by the NGOs mentioned above offers an alternative source of income to the local people. Knowledge, independent work and salary enable the individual project participants to improve their livelihood, send their children to school and strengthen the resilience of their families to unpredictable environmental influences. Engoitoi Epuan supports this sustainable development through our cooperation. In this way, we want to contribute to the long-term and successful existence of the leather group.

«Thank you for the knowledge that Engoitoi Epuan conveys to us and the recurring orders we receive. We very much appreciate the enriching cooperation!»
- Naramarisho, Member of the Leather Group in Kitumbeine

Naramarisho, Mitglied der Ledergruppe

All combined: natural leather, handwork, quality

The joint creation and elaboration bore fruit. Various high-quality natural leather products arise from great diligence and pure handwork. From the trendy backpack to the small decorative hair clip - take a look at our leather products.

Clutch
Haarklammer
Hundehalsbänder