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Letter from
Livingstone
By Gill Staden
I was recently in
Lusaka, not an often occurrence, and, of course, took a turn round
Manda Hill to see what was on offer. It is quite an eye-opener for
a villager like me to see all those things for sale – things from
all over the world. But I always think that we have become a nation
of traders … and how long can this last? In order for us to have
these products on the shelves we have to buy them with foreign
exchange, which for Zambia, is still a precious commodity. So, I
think it is about time us Zambians took time out to consider our
local products and to support them.
One such company
which moved from Livingstone to Lusaka about a year ago is Kubu
Crafts. Their shop in Manda Hill is tucked down the cul-de-sac
along with Homenet and is well worth a wander round. The shop is
packed full of Zambian-made furniture and crafts from the Southern
African region.
Kubu Crafts
prides itself on its teak and rosewood furniture which is made in
their factory in Livingstone. The furniture is made to last a
lifetime, and longer. As you can imagine, it is an uphill battle to
maintain such high standards but the owners are used to that because
it has been a battle throughout their short life with Kubu Crafts.
The business was
started in 1997 when the owners, Roelf Bosman and Lucy Renew,
started with a few Zambian carpenters and set about making furniture
for lodges and homes in Livingstone. The equipment they started
with was some old tools from Lucy’s father. The workshop was small
and cramped. But with Lucy’s eye for detail and Roelf’s technical
know-how, the workshop developed.
 They made use of
many volunteers from PUM, IESC and PSDP to increase their skills in
manufacturing and marketing. The workforce grew from its original
three to the present sixty. The workshop moved to much larger
premises. New equipment was bought with bank loans and their
crippling repayment schedules. Timber, their raw product, was
always a difficult commodity to acquire. Lucy and Roelf have always
insisted that their timber came from licenced suppliers, from
legitimate forestry areas. This has not been easy, especially at a
price that they can afford. Finally they realised that, in order to
support the local suppliers of timber, it was essential to have
their own kiln to dry the timber prior to manufacture. So along
came a solar kiln.
Kubu Crafts also
makes furniture to order for lodges, homes and diplomatic missions.
It takes a while from start to finish – anything between six and
twelve weeks. But it is worth the wait. Many lodges in Livingstone
– Tongabezi and River Club, for example – have been furnished by
Kubu Crafts. There is an extensive catalogue available in their
shop at Manda Hill and anyone can ask to have a browse through.
In the future
they plan to export their furniture, but, in the meantime, their
market is Zambia. So, next time you visit Manda Hill, take time out
to walk around Kubu Crafts and have a look at what Zambia has to
offer and know that money spent there is money which goes to support
the Zambian economy and not the economy of some other country. |
September 2005