Kenyan women make a healthy profit selling aloe to cosmetics firm
Friday, May 1, 2015
The aloe plants reduced erosion and improved the soil, enabling grass to grow in a dry climate. The leaves are exported to Britain as an ingredient in cosmetics.
By Leopold Obi, Thomson Reuters Foundation
NANYUKI, KENYA — Women herders in Kenya’s semi-arid Laikipia County have broken with tradition to export the leaves of a desert plant to Europe, boosting their incomes.
Three hundred women in El Poloi have switched from the age-old occupation of goat-keeping to the new and far more lucrative activity of farming aloe, a plant with healing properties.
Along the way, they are transforming their economic status and creating educational opportunities for their daughters.
Source: Christian Science Monitor/Thomson Reuters Foundation (link opens in a new window)
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