By Ronald Njoroge NAIROBI (Xinhua) --
Kenya on Tuesday launched the Kenya Footwear
Manufacturers Association strategy that aims to revamp the
leather sector.
Cabinet Secretary in
the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Cooperation Adan Mohamed
told a leather forum in Nairobi that the country’s leather
sector is yet to fully recover from the effects of the
Structural Adjustment Programs that were imposed on Kenya by the
international donor community over 20 years ago.
“We are hoping that
the strategy will help the leather sector to regain its
competitiveness which made the country an exporter of finished
leather products,” Mohamed said.
The strategy
provides a roadmap that will guide the East African nation’s
leather sector to tap its full potential.
Data from the
ministry of industry indicates that Kenya is only able to
produce 8 million pairs of shoes annually, leaving a deficit of
23 million pairs.
“As a result Kenya
is forced to import second-hand shoes from the developed world
in order to bridge the deficit,” he added.
The government
official noted that the leather industry currently employs
600,000 people directly along the value chain.
He said the
manufacture of footwear and leather goods represent the highest
level in the leather value addition process.
“Despite the
potential that the footwear and leather goods sector portends in
the leather value chain, the lack of strategy has long hindered
the development of a robust leather industry,” he added.
The CS noted that
currently most footwear producers operate alone scattered all
over the country. “We are therefore urging the leather sector to
cluster in groups so that they increase their production
efficiency,” Mohamed said. |