Taita Taveta Artisanal Miners Cooperative

Taita Taveta Artisanal Miners Cooperative Organizing Taita Taveta’s artisanal miners for safer mining, better markets, and stronger communities

Young people like to hear the story of how tsavorite was found in the hills of Taita Taveta.They say it began with a man...
04/05/2026

Young people like to hear the story of how tsavorite was found in the hills of Taita Taveta.

They say it began with a man named Campbell Bridges, a British geologist who had been following mineral traces across the border from Tanzania. Somewhere along that trail, the rocks led him here, into the hills of Taita Taveta, and he began to dig.

What he found was a green gemstone of unusual quality, one that had not been formally identified before. He named it tsavorite, after Tsavo, whose boundary runs through this land, placing this area on the global gem map.

Folklore has it that Bridges lived out in the bush while he worked. He lived with wife in a treehouse, built high enough to keep above the reach of animals that moved through Tsavo at night.

Some accounts also say he used pythons to discourage people from stealing gem stones, because locals feared snakes.

Whether those things happened exactly as told, or whether they have changed over time, is hard to say.

If you are from Taita Taveta, is this how you heard the story? Or does your family tell it differently?

Happy Labour Day to all Miners!Today, we take a moment to honour the hard work and unwavering spirit of the men and wome...
01/05/2026

Happy Labour Day to all Miners!

Today, we take a moment to honour the hard work and unwavering spirit of the men and women who are the heart of 's mineral wealth.

From the deep shafts of Voi all the way to Wundanyi, your hands bring these minerals to the surface to build a future for our families and our county.

BUSINESS DAILY AFRICA ran a story saying Kenya is sitting on untapped mineral wealth and is on the verge of a global re...
28/04/2026

BUSINESS DAILY AFRICA ran a story saying Kenya is sitting on untapped mineral wealth and is on the verge of a global resource race. We’ve been hearing that for years. The question that never gets answered is who actually benefits when that race begins.

Right now, the miner who pulls the stone out of the ground is usually the one who gets the least. Not because the stone has no value, but because the price is set at the point where the miner has the least power, often needing quick cash, with little information, and few options on who to sell to.

The markets that pay better prices are not just buying the stone. They are buying confidence, where it came from, how it moved, and whether that story holds. But by the time a stone gets there, it has often passed through several hands, mixed, resold, and stripped of that history.

Even when stones reach places like gem centres, that original story is already incomplete. What gets certified is the stone, not the journey.

So the issue is not whether we have minerals. It is whether the miner has any control over how those minerals leave their hands.

If that does not change, the value will continue to move away from the source, no matter how high prices go elsewhere.

What would give you more control when you sell your stones?

This week, EPRA announced new fuel prices. Diesel went up by Ksh 40.30 per litre, the largest increase in over 20 years....
16/04/2026

This week, EPRA announced new fuel prices. Diesel went up by Ksh 40.30 per litre, the largest increase in over 20 years. Diesel now stands at Ksh 206.84, and petrol at Ksh 206.97.

We may not have felt the full impact yet as miners, but we already know what this means for our work.

Our operations depend on fuel at every step, the pumps, the compressors, the boda bodas that move our gems to the buying centres. Even getting to and from the pit, or moving tools and smaller loads, often depends on boda bodas. With these increases, the cost of running the pit will go up.

Despite the increase in cost of mining, the prices offered at the buying centres are not expected to change. That means the additional cost will come back to us. It will reduce what we earn and put pressure on how we manage our households.

Transporters have already started talking about fare increases, and boda boda charges will likely follow. This means it will cost more to travel to and fro from the pits.

As these costs rise, some of our members will have to borrow to keep operations going, often on terms that are not in their favour.

This is the position we are now facing.

We want to hear from you. What challenges do you expect this increase will bring to your work.

Je, unajua kwamba madini tunayoyachimba hapa ni hazina ya kipekee duniani?The we pull from our soil in the Tsavo reg...
13/04/2026

Je, unajua kwamba madini tunayoyachimba hapa ni hazina ya kipekee duniani?

The we pull from our soil in the Tsavo region is one of the rarest treasures on Earth? It is more brilliant than an emerald and often more valuable than a diamond. While buyers in Japan, Europe, and America admire the beauty of our stones, there is still a big gap between the price at the pit and the price on the global market.

This gap exists because miners often lack access to the grading standards and current market prices that international buyers already use. Without this information, negotiating fairly is nearly impossible.

When every miner understands how a stone is graded and what it is worth in the global market, we move from guesswork to fair trade. By working together on better training, anti-smuggling measures, and keeping our value chains local, we can ensure that the wealth of Taita Taveta stays in the hands of the people who find it.

Around Tsavo, the danger for a miner doesn’t begin at the bottom of a shaft, it starts on the way to get there. We work ...
09/04/2026

Around Tsavo, the danger for a miner doesn’t begin at the bottom of a shaft, it starts on the way to get there.

We work on fields shared with elephants, buffalo, and lions as they move between the bush and water sources. This overlap creates a constant risk that is rarely acknowledged.

Most of us mine at dawn and dusk, the same time these animals are most active. For now, we rely on our eyes
and ears to stay safe, navigating encounters as best we can.

But safety shouldn’t depend on luck, on whether someone notices a fresh track or hears a branch snap in time to turn back.

As a cooperative, we do what we can to warn each other and share information, but this responsibility shouldn’t rest on us alone.

All partners in mining and wildlife conservation must work together to protect both people and wildlife in these shared corridors.

For us miners, getting home safely today is what makes tomorrow possible.

Many miners ignore permits until inspectors shut down their site.In Taita Taveta, mining pays for school fees, food, and...
07/04/2026

Many miners ignore permits until inspectors shut down their site.

In Taita Taveta, mining pays for school fees, food, and family needs. It's hard, skilled work that's often dangerous. Too much depends on it to risk losing it all.

An Artisanal Mining Permit lets you sell your stones openly, move your materials without problems, and keep digging at your site without anyone stopping you. No more worry or surprise shutdowns.

Miners who get this sorted early have safer, stronger operations. The right papers protect everything you've worked for.

You don't have to figure it out alone. That's what being part of a cooperative is for.

Blessed Easter! We wish all our Members and the wider community a blessed and joyful season.
05/04/2026

Blessed Easter!

We wish all our Members and the wider community a blessed and joyful season.

Jambo ambalo watu wengi hawalitilii maanani ni kuwa wachimbaji wengi vijana hujipata katika shughuli za uchimbaji pasi n...
27/03/2026

Jambo ambalo watu wengi hawalitilii maanani ni kuwa wachimbaji wengi vijana hujipata katika shughuli za uchimbaji pasi na wao kujua. Wengi wa wachimbaji hawa walianza wakiwa na umri mdogo, wakiwasaidia wazazi wao.

Katika mchakato huu, vijana hupata elimu kiasi tofauti na ile ya Mainjinia kule chuo kikuu, hasa katika maswala ya madini k**a vile kutambua miamba kutumia picha za satelaite.

Lakini kwa sasa mambo ya uchimbaji sio k**a hapo jadi. Lazima uzame chini zaidi ili uweze kuyafikia madini. Sheria nazo zinazidi kuongezeka, na isitoshe, wanunuzi wako tayari kumlaghai mchimbaji yeyote asiyeelewa thamani ya madini yake.

Chama cha wachimbaji wadogo wa madini cha Taita Taveta Artisanal Miners Cooperative kinataka kusikia kutoka kwenu.

Maswali yetu ni matatu, na tunaomba mjibu swali linalowagusa zaidi:

1. Ni jambo gani gumu katika shughuli ya uchimbaji ulilojifunza kwa shida?
2. Je, uchimbaji ni jambo ambalo ulilichagua mwenyewe au ulikuja kujipata ndani yake tu? Na habari za uchimbaji ulizipata wapi?
3. Ni mabadiliko gani ungependa ya fanyike kwa vijana wachimbaji wadogo wa Taita Taveta?

Tuwachie maoni yako hapa kwenye komenti au tutumie ujumbe.

Kile utakachoshiriki kitasaidia kujenga mambo bora kwa vijana wachimbaji wadogo.

The Kenya Mining Act 2016 limits artisanal mining to traditional and customary methods. In practice, this means that whe...
24/03/2026

The Kenya Mining Act 2016 limits artisanal mining to traditional and customary methods. In practice, this means that when a miner introduces equipment such as a compressor to work more efficiently, they risk losing their artisanal permit and being reclassified as a small-scale miner.

That change brings a different set of requirements. Small-scale mining licences require higher levels of capital, environmental assessments, and regulatory compliance that many artisanal miners are not in a position to meet.

For miners trying to improve productivity, this creates a difficult situation. Equipment that could help reach the Ore more easily, increase output, or reduce physical strain may also place their permit at risk.

In Taita Taveta, many miners have already begun introducing modern tools out of necessity. Deposits are harder to reach and manual extraction alone is often no longer sufficient. At the same time, the regulatory framework has not fully adjusted to how mining is now taking place on the ground.

This is one of the issues the Taita Taveta Artisanal Miners Cooperative Society continues to raise in discussions about how artisanal mining is classified under the Mining Act. Allowing miners to adopt technology gradually would better reflect how the sector is evolving in practice.

If you work in mining, regulation, or policy in Kenya, we welcome your perspective.

Address

Taita Taveta
Voi

Opening Hours

Monday 08:00 - 17:00
Tuesday 08:00 - 17:00
Wednesday 08:00 - 17:00
Thursday 08:00 - 17:00
Friday 08:00 - 17:00
Saturday 08:00 - 17:00

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