The Kikuyu's Economic Way of Life
Because of being in a fertile land, they were deeply into farming. They would grow crops such as bananas, sugarcane, arum lily, yams, beans, millet, maize, black beans and a variety of vegetables. They also had cattle, though not so many per household. These provided them with milk, meat and hide. The hide was used to make clothes, sandals, bedding and house equipment. The women would also make pots and weave baskets from sisal fiber.Since most of the time they produced more than they could use, there had to exchange it for what they did not have. They would mostly exchange for iron tools such as jembes for digging. Their main trade partners were the Masai, Kamba and Okiek. Markets were normally found in heavily populated areas. The women were the ones who went to the market and their goods were safeguarded by a middle man who also negotiated the exchange rates for them. The main things you would find in the market were livestock, agricultural produce, iron implements, tobacco, salt and ochre.