Traditional pottery techniques towards poverty eradication in Emuhaya constituency, Vihiga County, Kenya

Abstract

Poverty level in Emuhaya Constituency, Vihiga County, Kenya is 41% despite there is availability of a natural clay material in that environment for sustainability. This implies that pottery modeling technique opportunities has not effectively been explored to eradicate poverty in Emuhaya Constituency, Vihiga County. The purpose of this study was therefore; to find out the level of awareness on varied pottery modeling techniques used in Emuhaya Constituency, Vihiga County to eradicate poverty in line with vision 2030. This study used descriptive survey. Data was collected from 30 potters using questionnaires. Snow ball sampling technique was used to select 30 potters. The findings revealed that the potters are only conversant with coiling technique. The potters hardly reached secondary schools and if they did they dropped out due to lack of school fees. They learned pottery from other older potters that lived within their environment. Majority of the potters were above 50 years implying that pottery skill is threatened to end in this region. Vihiga county government should role down funds to potters in Vihiga County through group training on varied pottery skills such as slab, ball, pinch, casting and throwing on the wheel in their pottery production in order to improve livelihood of the women potters.