Abstract
Handicrafts made in Kenya are popular with tourists and provides income to many artists. One such artist is Joseph Morris Njau Mung’othi, who renamed himself Morris ‘Foit’ out of respect for a Czech professor, Francis Foit who mentored him. The use of natural materials [non-timber forest products (NTFP)] for making handicrafts is common, but what is less common is the use of dead wood for making sculptures. This is a case study of a Kenyan sculptor who uses deadwood for carving, and has risen out of poverty by selling his art. He educated his five children and accumulated assets including a two-storeyed house-cum-studio and a car. Furthermore, his art gave him opportunities to travel to Uganda, Botswana and the United States. He is also the founder of an art center in Nairobi called the Kuona Trust, which supports local artists to exhibit and sell their work. This case study clearly demonstrates how the use of a NTFP product (in this case deadwood) helped Foit’s family rise above poverty.
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Notes
- 1.
Morris’s mother could not remember the exact year of his birth.
- 2.
A white-petal flower used in the manufacture of insecticides.
- 3.
Napier Grass (Pennisetum purpureum) also known as Elephant grass is used as fodder for cows.
- 4.
Kenyan Shillings.
- 5.
Kuona means “to see” in Swahili. Kuona Trust means “To trust what you see”.
- 6.
- 7.
Local transport—minibus.
- 8.
Sankara Hotel is a five star luxury hotel in Nairobi. http://www.sankara.com/.
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Foit, M., Pullanikkatil, D. (2019). The Hidden Master. In: Pullanikkatil, D., Shackleton, C. (eds) Poverty Reduction Through Non-Timber Forest Products. Sustainable Development Goals Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75580-9_13
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75580-9_13
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