Manyatta Beaded Belt

The leather is produced in Thika, the buckles are made of recycled brass and are fashioned in Ngong, just outside of Nairobi, and the belts are beaded by Maasai ‘mamas’ either in the Ngong Hills or Amboseli National Park. The belts take 3-4 full days to bead and an average-sized belt contains around 6-7000 beads.

Purchasing a belt produces employment (where there is none) to some of the poorest communities in Kenya and enables their children to be educated, a fundamental need in the country. This is, however, not a charity – Manyatta is simply employing these mamas to utilise an ancestral and cultural tradition. They are taught from an early age to bead.