Kakuma Eco-Bag is a refugee-led social enterprise solving one of Turkana’s biggest challenges: access to affordable packaging. Today, over 2,500 businesses in Kakuma–Kalobeyei still import packaging from Nairobi, paying almost double the cost while over 75% of youth are unemployed. We exist to change that.

We locally produce affordable, customizable, eco-friendly packaging—including shopping bags, envelopes, book covers, and cake boxes—giving local businesses a faster, cheaper, and greener alternative that keeps value within Turkana’s USD 56 million annual market.

What makes our model powerful is how simple and scalable it is.
We created a micro-licensing model that allows youth groups and small community teams to set up their own mini-production units. We train them, provide tools, and give them access to customers. They earn from every sale, and the community benefits through more local jobs and reduced reliance on imports.

Our vision is to scale this model across Turkana County—starting with Lodwar, Lokichar, and surrounding towns—so that eco-friendly packaging becomes fully local, community-owned, and available everywhere.

We also run a circular recycling program.
All paper offcuts and waste from production are recycled into clean-burning eco-charcoal briquettes, which we distribute to vulnerable groups such as elderly women, people with disabilities, and orphaned children. This reduces waste, protects the environment, and provides safe cooking options for families.

Since launching, we have grown from 8 to 25 youth producers, expanded from 16 to 66 business customers, and delivered over 17,000 eco-packages across Kakuma and Kalobeyei.

At Kakuma Eco-Bag, we’re not just making packaging.
We’re building jobs, dignity, a circular green economy—and a future where Turkana creates for itself.

Kakuma Eco-Bag

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Kakuma Eco-Bag

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