LLEPDEC

PROBLEM.

Abundance of goat skins particularly in Southern Africa has left millions of the stock being left to be devoured by hyenas or domestic dogs because the export of the sustainable  raw stock has diminished and prices have dropped to unprofitable levels.

Africa has not capitalized on this development because we have been complacent with the importance of value addition due to not being ready to support our own citizens with this unique knowledge allowing the technologists so rare to have to disappear for greener pastures.

LLEPDEC in this project seeks to address this adverse development by providing targeted groups with appropriate technology befitting communities to add value initially by proper longterm preservation and at the same time eco tanning the skins into hair on and dehaired leather whose market among the communities is ready to have the leather for salable products such as carpets, wall decorations, sandals shoes etc.

SPECIFIC PROBLEM

Leather Products manufacturers have had difficult to have leather to produce articles such as footwear, bags, satchels, mats, carpets etc simply because the avenue of having this delicate material has been capitalised by tanners who invest in Africa in quest for USD currency for externalization.

The local buyers who are mostly vulnerable groups, having been laid off due to down sizing and relocating of foreign investors have been left without material.

Therefore it has been imperative to devise a way to have some leather produced to satisfy this bracket of customers and the easiest way has been to start with tanning goat skins by communities requiring skill training in order for them to ecotan the goat skins employing appropriate technology encompassing CLEANER PRODUCTION CONCEPTS towards being environmentally friendly using ingredients that are safe to use as far as occupational health is concerned.

The waste raw material of goatskins become the raw stock of which if properly preserved and subsequently eco tanned providing jobs and wealth thereby alleviating poverty by earnings derived through the manual work and wealth when up scaled well enough for increased benefits.

SOLUTION.

LLEPDEC vies to provide appropriate technology skills to the target groups in the remote and semi Urban dwellings to ecotan the skins into dehaired and hairon leather for local market  and eventually with more experience export products for better money for value added.

The groups get rewarded more than 10 fold thereby moving off poverty levels  automatically within a few weeks.

With improvised automations the outputs and corresponding incomes would surge upwards 10 fold again and benefits then get spread out as more ventures of product manufacture would easily flourish.

The Tanning process in this respect dwells on employing simple similar ingredients used in the homes and using eecofriendly vegetable called MIMOSA available at a large scale in Southern Africa.

The eco tanning of goat skins ensures the basic leather is available to most vulnerable artisans in towns near communities both village and semiurban setup.

Most of them have been mere show repairers and having been upgrading into shoe manufacturers, they grossly lack readily available leather to be used sustainably equating to imported products for competitiveness since most investors go for partly processed material which dumps waste in our midst and the cream exported.

Where the tanneries do finish leather it is mostly supplied to their own factories and the low grades are offered to our fellow vulnerable artisans.

As such it is imperative that they have a supply which is pertinent to their magnitude of sophistication. Hence the establishment of LLEPDEC.

Eventually the wasted goat skins from our sustainable Natural Resource will provide jobs and wealth to the communities both directly and indirectly.

Good job in this project is achieved since the raw material is sustainable and available around our homes and villages. With the appropriate technology availed, the ecotanning is community based since it targets vulnerable groups irregardless of age, gender, education and religion and blends well with homely chores.

The Tanning is truly scalable and its possible to be industrialised by provision of proper automated machines to upscale the operations for higher output and increasing the chances of those with entrepreneurial passion to take the ecotanning as a lifelong endeavour supplying an already hungry team of artisans. 

LLEPDEC is Human centered in the sense that it targets vulnerable groups who are suffering below poverty levels and yet they have the animals that provide the natural resource stock as raw material to do tanning as is basically done industrially.

The targeting of communities ensures that our communities having toiled day in and day out raring the domestic animals benefit one way or another by having a steady job and be elevated in their livelihood directly or indirectly in Value Addition in target areas where slaughter count is more than sustainable for scalability at appropriate time.

Eco tanning as per LLEPDEC's proposition has not been seen in many African countries and as it gives wealth it is indisputably suitable to our vulnerable groups who linger around in rural towns and semiurban township without any income for their daily bread since the initial operations of FLESHING. LIMING, UNHAIRING and SCUDDING are labour intensive and will take in a lot of hands for these operations. In Malawi alone. 4 centers have slaughter count of not less than 3000 goat skins each per month and those initial preparatory operation for tanning would need not less than 30 people each day.

The multiple effect on benefits therefore family wise rises to close to 200 considering family setup in most African communities.

Uniqueness off LLEPDEC is that ingredients are within reach from the trading centers except for Mimosa which is again available in southern region abundantly.

APROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY in eco tanning of goat skins incorporating cleaner production concept employs similar basic process of Tanning at Industrial level. 

The uniqueness in LLEPDEC is that it has devised a process which is eco friendly and reduces, replaces, reuses and renovates to suit community involvement for their benefit while ensuring the leather material customer gets satisfied and the product made from that leather is satisfactory to whoever final customer in the value chain comes along.

Pictures and reports Will be attached when linkage is finally sorted Vinin a few days time 

EACH AWARENESS and orientation is targeting Comesa member states being so far totalled  100 participants.

Growth in these 5 countries is planned to have 5 target groups in each country totalling  400 people in 2 initial years

To cover  all countries in Comesa and Sadc eventually in five years time will have 15x 5x20= 1500 lives benefiting directly.

Within the next year having all financial back up available. 5 groups in target groups of Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Eswatini and Uganda will be trained and commissioned to start Preservation and Tanning of goat skins in collaboration with say TEVETA institution or any other appropriate depending on what part they can play.

The biggest barrier is that since my project is extremely unique Government ministries to some extent have very rigid mindset which does not propel projects forward. Government have to some extent liberty to give support to project they themselves see fit not what would benefit the vulnerable population at large.

The technical, legal, cultural and market barriers are liberal and are in place supported by the LLEPDEC trust legality already certified in 2010.

TECHNOLOGY.

The leader in my capacity as the applicant possess all the technical aspect of the Leather Value Chain in its appropriation proposition with Botton to Top approach is tried tested and piloted in the region with great success its ready for application therein.

FINANCES

LLEPDEC needs all the finances it requires to provide adequately the skills immediately followed by empowerment for the trained group to move into productive phase immediately with guidance for a few months both at base and virtual.

Culture

1 The citizenry culture is straight forward as is support from community point of view.

2. The governmental culture mindset is the one which needs to be watched but if the Solve partnership with LLEPDEC is direct this is not s hitch as long as the affiliation to  NGO BOARD is done with payment if an annual fee of USD100 (  to be verified.

MARKET.

The leather products sre self advertising having had the experience from attending and showcasing at fairs both local and regional.

LLEPDEC is duly registered legally  and is positioned to work independently as long as NGO BOARD affiliation is sorted out when the project is ready to roll out.

LLEPDEC envisages to have satellite staff in all operating countries who will man offices as Assistant trainer  (2)

human, finance and Administration   (3)

Leader and assistant will be travelling within allocated months to each country to have the initial trainings done 1 one per month for the  2 years.

For the last 3 years it will add the additional target groups having ensured the previous are already adding value  and getting their returns  

At base here in Malawi. LLEPDEC will have me as the lead Trainer.

YUSUF ALIDE a retired lecturer/vocational administrator will Man the Central office Administration assisted by human and finance officers. Boniface Zamadunga will be also travelling with me the Lead Trainer to introduce business management skills in relation to T he Leather Sector to prepare the trainees who may be passionate enough to take it as a career for life hopefully..

ALLPI in Addis Ababa is so far engaging only myself for any capacity building trainings in ecotanning 1-2 times each year so far as funds are still so limited from member countries under Comesa.

LLEPDEC upon provision of skills, gears to empower the community to produce products such as ethnic carpets. Wall decors so unique with the hairon leather.

Cultural footwear is also another product that the market is waiting to get from the Leather Value Chain.

Formally school shoes are in demand cehich can also be produced by footwear manufacturer at cottage level who are self employed.

From vocational school attached to DAPP young men and ladies are being trained to produce shoesvand they don't have anywhere to get leather even for class work within the country. UB essence the market is in a desperate situation as importation if leather is dismal and hard for a micro, scale entrepreneur to get and be able to produce products for the customers at hand.