In March 2021, in preparation for the online Future of Frankincense (FOF) meeting sponsored by the Global Frankincense Alliance, Save Frankincense worked with two Somali facilitators to conduct focus groups. The focus groups conducted in Somaliland were open ended narrative questions split into, what are the problems in the frankincense supply chain and what are the solutions. In addition to interviews with men, we also conducted focus groups with women sorters who are often the most overlooked and underrepresented segment at the base of the supply web. A recurring theme is lack of Personal Protective Equipment (such as masks and gloves), Unsafe working conditions and fair payment. Sadly, women report specific health problems such as kidney pain from long hours sitting on concrete floors. They also cite injuries to their husbands who harvest and even death from harvesting accidents (no PPE) as leaving them widowed and without family income. Below are the slides each facilitator presented to the attendees at the FOF meeting.
GFA Conference Focus Groups
GFA Conference Focus Groups (March 2021)
.pdf
Download PDF • 227KB