A review paper an overview of wood carvings industry developments in Kenya

Abstract

Most work done to advance sustainable production and marketing of woodcarvings in Kenya is unsystematic and scattered. Therefore, the review was aimed at synthesizing information on production and marketing of the woodcarvings. The woodcarvings industry has a rich history in the country. However, the production and processing of woodcarvings has not fully embraced newer technologies and innovations. The production technologies applied are ineffective and inefficient. This state has often compromised levels of precision and artistic making the industry unable to handle the threat from machine-made products. The market access strategies applied include cooperatives, direct marketing, collective action, contractual arrangements and e-commerce. Collective action including cooperatives and self-help groups is highly applied to market products. Cooperatives are preferred due to their associated benefits in terms of higher site prices hence more profits as a result of bulk marketing. Self-help groups are small associations and are increasingly being preferred as an alternative to cooperatives. Contractual arrangements and e-commerce are least applied strategies. Contractual arrangements often result into income stability and improved efficiency. E-commerce is the least applied although it leads to reduced transaction costs and improved information flow. This, therefore, calls for concerted efforts in terms of technical capacity building for actors in the woodcarvings value chain to apply effective and efficient production and marketing technologies and innovations.