You are on page 1of 3

Peperuka.

Eco-fashion businesses incur higher overhead costs such as above average wages which translate into higher prices than those of mass-produced products. Peperuka is registered with Kenya Federation for Alternative Trade (KEFAT); a Kenyan network of fair trade producers, and yet Wangari says the major hurdle in selling eco-products is the change of attitude required since living green is not a concept that has been embraced in Kenya as it has in other countries. I dont think we [Kenyans] link it to our everyday products that we buy. We tend to think of environmental issues as something far away, a forest over there that has been deforested, a river that needs cleaning but we dont link it to our everyday lives, says Wangari. Yet, Peperuka which means to soar in Swahili is about producing products that inspire people to take a moment from their busy schedule and care about the environment. Its motto echoes this ideal since it reads: inspire, shift, renew, soar. Shruti shares a similar insight. Yes, Kenyans are environmentally aware but this is not enough. We need to be environmentallyactive.To make people actually change their consumption behaviour, we need to raise much more awareness in terms of direct causes and eects of what we buy. She thinks that people need to develop a sense of responsibility for their environment and at the same time, need to be given environment friendly alternatives without necessarily paying more for it. Erin Campbell Allan of Toto Knits, another eco-business, does not agree a that Kenyans are not environment tally aware. t I think the awareness is just beginning but is still in its infancy. I dont n think there is dialogue regarding the th environmental impact of disposable e consumer goods, mass produced co goods or even the damage caused by go conventional cotton production, she co says. sa Toto Knits, which began in 2005, is a line of organic cotton childrens knitwear that employs 30 single mothers on a full-time basis. It won the Ethical Fashion Forum (EFF) award and the Source Award Innovation in Childrens wear category last December. The EFF is an industry body for sustainable fashion with members

from over 100 countries. As an American who moved to Kenya 11 years ago, Erin intimately knows the meaning of consumerism. Consumerism itself is relatively new here in Kenya. Shopping malls as a pass time for families over the weekends is a new concept. So consumers must be educated on the impact of all aspects their shopping - from packaging and sourcing to the way things are made. It took many years for these issues to become part of the decision making process when buying in the States , she explains. Erin adds that there is not as much awareness or value placed on eco fashion in Kenya. The novelty of imported goods seems to hold more sway when it comes to purchasing habits. A sweater made in Spain or China, for instance, has more of a social cache than a locally made piece. I think our design aesthetics speak more to a Western audience. Local tastes are very dierent from what sells abroad, she says. Erins business strategy has been to target foreigners and she sells her products to the international market. Toto Knits is popular in Australia, the US and the UK. Locally, Toto Knit

products can be found at the Blue Rhino shops and Marula Studios in Karen. However, its important to note that even in Western markets having eco-credentials is not enough to penetrate markets. Product design and competitive pricing is still very important to consumers and retailers, says Shruti. She says that the barriers to entry into the European market are as prevalent as they are in Kenya. The days of buying goods to show support for a cause are long gone, and Shruti says that eco-fashion business like hers have to compete on product design. The second biggest challenge that eco-fashion business face locally are from the mitumba (second-hand clothes) trade, which some have argued can also be described as eco-fashion. I think education is key. Awareness about all aspects of production from the materials to the production process are multi layered and one must learn to balance out cost plus ethical considerations, says Erin of Toto Knits. To Wangari of Peperuka, understanding that consumer purchasing habits have a huge impact on the environment is a message worth sending.

ECONOMIC MUSCLE

The business of yoga


BY AKINYI JOSEPH

he assumption is that yoga is a sport which will help you to manage the stresses of daily life. But in a country like Kenya which has an unemployment rate of 40% and the greatest stress is the fact that you dont have a job, of what use is yoga? Well, as it turns out, yoga oers a solution for that too if the experience of the Africa Yoga Project is anything to go by. Yoga in America is a $27 billion market according to a 2012 study conducted by Boston University, and the trend is growing on the African continent. With the parallel growth of health and wellness tourism, Kenya is primed to become the continental hub for yoga, and this has drawn the attention of international players and investors. A New York based non-prot social enterprise, the Africa Yoga Centre opened its rst

yoga studio in Nairobi in 2006. Its not a question of will yoga expand in Kenya. It will. The question is who will, said Paige Ellenson, one of the senior instructors at
May Nairobi Business Monthly |

Enterprises &Ideas

The growth in popularity of yoga has spawned the development of various business enterprises.

the Africa Yoga Centre, and she believes that it is a choice between expatriates and locals. Like her, the Africa Yoga Centre strongly believes that the growth of the yoga culture in Kenya needs to be a home grown initiative, and so since 2006, she and her fellow trainers have successfully trained 71 yoga teachers across the country with the help of institutions like the Gina Din Foundation and the India based Jois Foundation. A yoga teacher with over 15 years of experience in New York City, Hawaii and Japan, Paige is one of the senior instructors at the Africa Yoga Project in Nairobi which has its main yoga studio on the fourth oor of Diamond Plaza. I used to volunteer at the informal settlements and I would have hundreds of young people showing up for my classes, and I realised that there was a great opportunity to meet the market demand and have a social impact - that is to train young people from the slums how to be yoga teachers which will empower them to work with communities that are at at risk and also help them to get jobs in the burgeoning yoga market, she said.
| Nairobi Business Monthly May

With 350 classes a week, the Africa Yoga Centre reaches over 6,000 people in Nairobi every week including their corporate classes, and social classes they arrange at prisons and orphanages. The business impact of the sport is immense. Many of their trainees are drawn from Nairobis informal settlements, and so their three year progammes oer skills to a group of disenfranchised youth, who go on to secure employment at health resorts across the country including those that tap into the tourism clientele in

The Yoga T shirts, prepared by a cooperative in Voi, are now being exported to the United States and have helped to nd the building of a school in Kenya.

Mombasa, Lamu and Nanyuki. We are world class trainers, she said. People from around the world come to our training and pay $3,000 each and yet we oer the training free to people who are unemployed and who need jobs. Paying participants subsidise the cost of the scholarships they oer. In addition to the training opportunities that the Africa Yoga Centre oers - a career choice that can offer a monthly salary of between Sh15,000 to Sh60,000 a month depending on the number of private classes - an interesting twist has been the yoga related enterprises that the practice has inspired. One of the Africa Yoga Centres trainees is soon to open a private yoga studio at ABC Plaza in Nairobi, and one of their trainees runs at the Gallman foundation in Nanyuki. In addition, there are the various small scale enterprises that have mushroomed around the sport of yoga. There is the downward facing dog yoga and then there is all the market that can come with yoga like a retreat centre from registration to building so that is a lot of jobs, Paige explained. For instance, the Africa Yoga Centre

Cutting edge creative culture

in partnership with local community groups, began producing beaded yoga wear in 2010 - inspired by a group of Maasai women that Paige met during a training. The Yoga T shirts, prepared by a cooperative in Voi, are now being exported to the United States and have helped to nd the building of a school in Kenya. Other artisans have developed beaded bracelets with yoga themed inspirational messages. Other success stories that have developed include the modest enterprise that a 16 year old girl living in Kibera started where she makes yoga mat bags, sells them for Sh3,000, and now earns enough to support her family. The wooden blocks that are used as props during yoga classes have also oered an income stream to local artisans, as has the development of customised yoga studios across the city. The contractors who built our studio are now specialists in building yoga studios, she said explaining how the unique requirements of a yoga studio such as the need for gloss rather than matt paint because participants touch the walls, had developed into a business specialisation. Paige strongly believes that empowering the specialties in people will boost entrepreneurial capabilities, and develop a stronger resource base for niche services in the market.

ometimes all it takes to start a new business is looking around at the available tools. It was what jumpstarted the development of the PInk Impala product line earlier this year by Cocoon group, a local architecture rm that specialises in photo-real visualisation, model making and animation. The $25,000 (Sh2.1 million) laser cutter that often lay idle at the architecture rm was available for experimentation and it inspired the development of a catalogue of innovative interior nishes including light switch covers, candle holders, and even artistic jewellery pieces like gecko earrings and feather necklaces. Developed as a complementary business line to the work of Cocoon, the creative input to Pink Impala draws upon the air of Janina Migdal, a 26 year old arts and design graduate. I decorate something that has an everyday functional use, she said Janina, explaining the light switch cover concept. Another signature piece she has developed is an acrylic candle holder that can be easily assembled through slot-in joints and attened for packing. All of the materials used by the laser cutter are of local origin - such as wood, acrylic and ceramic - and Janina hopes the fusion of Western and traditional designs with Kenyan tribal styles will add sophistication and interest to an undecorated environment. The mantra trickles down

Janina Migdal wearing the scarf necklace.

Some of the items that Pink Impala develops using local materials and a laser cutter.

to the company logo, a silhouette of a single impala cut into any surface. From the development of the stand alone pieces, Janina diversied into jewellery and her second line of items includes laser cut gecko earrings, a silk scarf decorated with a laser cut acrylic feather, and a chunky kikoi necklace made from balls of the infamous local cloth. It is about ndings items that are available in Kenya that can be multi purpose, Janina said. Pink Impala currently sells its items at local fairs, and plans to establish an online shop in coming months.

May

Nairobi Business Monthly |

You might also like