Machakos District Cooperative Union

The Machakos District Cooperative was established in 1964 as an umbrella organization to market coffee for producers in the Machakos area, a hilly region about 75 kilometers southeast of Nairobi. It has since expanded and now represents a variety of "cooperative societies" which produce agricultural products (cotton, dairy products, corn, fresh fruits and vegetables, honey) as well as handcrafts. Handcrafts are made using local materials- sisal, soapstone, and wood. Men from the Akamba tribe supplement their incomes from agriculture with woodcarving and the Akamba women are skilled sisal basket weavers.