The story of Benson Kasanga
Benson Kasanga a wood toy maker in Makongeni, Thika decided to explore very unchartered waters. Kasanga’s childhood passion of making toys as a young boy would come back to him as an adult after years of searching for a job. The Kenyan artisan who has been making toys for years now studied hospitality in college and after years of searching he was able to secure a job in Nairobi. He says he was good at his job, so good that when his employer found out he was skipping his duties and staying away from work to concentrate on his passions he gave him a salary rise.
But like a nagging bug, the push to build toys could not leave him and soon he resigned to go concentrate on toy making. The gap and market was there, Kenya does not have many people producing wooden toy cars.
His parents and everybody around him thought he had lost it. How does anyone leave a well-paying job to make toys? they would ask. But his mind was made up, his passion was bigger than him.
Kasanga who had started making toys at his rented house during off days now took on this venture as his fulltime job, but it came easy for him because he believes this is what he is called to do. He says it gives a lot of satisfaction to see a child play with his creations.
When decided to take the car toy making business seriously, there’s a lot he needed to learn, while he credits the art and craft lesson he learnt in primary school for the little knowledge he had and what even gave him the confidence to concentrate on it full time, he also credits Gikomba market for additional skills learnt.
According to Kasanga, Gikomba market is an important hub for the Kenyan juakali sector. In this market new skills are taught every day and most artisans in the country have picked not just raw materials from here but knowledge they carry on when they start their own businesses.
His biggest wish is that he would go back to school to major in a toy making course to better his product . But his years of research has not led him to such an institution in Kenya. For those like him,he hopes the industry can open up in the future to accommodate students who are interested in this area.
Advantages of pursuing his passion
While working in hospitality, Kasanga quickly noted that he was not growing at the rate he wanted to. The money though he got a raise from his employer could only go to a certain level. Venturing into an area he is passionate about has helped him grow not just financially but he continuously seeks ways to improve his toys so that they are safer ,more durable and can one day be sold in an international market.
Kasanga is a big proponent of hands on skills, he believes hand-on skills is the resource that Kenya has that can truly transform the economy.
Challenges
Financing : Like many artisans in Kenya the biggest challenge Kasanga faces is financing. He says many banks lack products tailor made for the juakali sector. According to Kasanga, the juakali sector has unique challenges and if the sector is to grow there is need to rethink the financing model used.
Taxes are also another issue he says. The nature of business in the juakali sector can be very unpredictable, payment of products by customers can also be unstable therefore implementing taxes that are friendly to the sector would help millions in the sector stay afloat.
Poor exposure: Kasanga says there is a lot of potential in the sector, but there lacks formal organization in the juakali sector with structures that can help artisans easily seek guidance on their various innovations or challenges they may have. Exposure to bodies that can help the sector is also a challenge he says and he hopes stories such as this one, can shed light to not just the authorities but the artisans as well. Exposure and benchmarking opportunities for artisans to more developed countries Kasanga says would help those in the sector learn new skills on how to improve on their products.
Call to action
His message to Kenyans is that anyone who has the yearning to make a leap of faith into business, to his/her passion or talent or self-employment should take it. The road is not easy but with consistency, discipline and God anything he says is possible.
To the government, he asks for more intentionality in dealing with the juakali sector, making the environment favorable to do business will attract more people to the juakali sector.