A local
Somaliland NGO, Candlelight, has become the supplier of henna
to UK-based Body Shop International, an ethical trading company
specialising in body and skin care products.
Candlelight,
sister organisation to Asli Grinding Mills, received start-up
support from the Danish Refugee Council, and Progressive Interventions,(Pi)
an Irish NGO.
Pi provided
technical assistance to establish local and overseas market
links.
Somalia's
business "buysomali" website said since January 2000 Alsi
Grinding Mills, through Candlelight, supplied 4.62 tons of
red henna powder to the Body Shop, and that approximately
70 new jobs had been created to date by the new business.
Many of
the beneficiaries are women pastoralists and nomads who now
earn incomes by collecting henna leaf for grinding.
According
to the the "buysomali" website, henna powder is primarily
imported from Yemen and Ethiopia despite "the abundance of
henna trees in Somaliland".
UNDP said
it supported the venture by offering transport for Body Shop
representatives to Hargeisa.
According
to UNDP, Candlelight hopes to expand production further with
the assistance of the European Commission-funded Marketing
Assistance Product Promotion project, being implemented by
Pi.
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