How Turkana women turned traditional weaving into a Sh3m business

Lodwar's easily visible Christ the Redeemer statue in Turkana County, which was erected by the Catholic Diocese, sits atop a 700-metre hill overlooking the arid town with a busy airstrip with daily flights.

For anyone walking up the hill to reach the 15‑foot statue that resembles Rio de Janeiro’s iconic monument in Brazil, the journey begins next to The Blue Container. Nicknamed ‘Taste of Turkana,’ it serves as the Turkana Women Handcraft Shop, where quality woven products are stored before being transported to customers across the country and for export.

The compound has more than 150 women who weave colourful products daily, ranging from laundry baskets, fruit baskets, small rectangular boxes for pens and jewellery, table mats and shopping bags. 

A section of women has specialised in making more unique products like customised woven wall mirrors and beaded woven bags with vibrant beadwork that can be used for summer vacations or evening outfits.

Martha Lemuya is one of the newest members of a group formed in 1992. The group was created to help women who had practised basket weaving as a hobby for many years turn their traditional skills into a source of income. It also aimed to preserve and pass down indigenous knowledge and techniques through generations