Hide Curing and Secondary Leatherworks

Turning hides into leather to enrich communities

The technology "Hide Curing and Secondary Leatherworks" emphasizes the importance of properly treating animal hides for maximum value. Hides, after meat, are the next most valuable product from livestock. They can be processed into various products like shoes, handbags, and clothing, provided skilled artisans and appropriate materials are available.

This technology is TAAT1 validated.

8•8

Scaling readiness: idea maturity 8/9; level of use 8/9

Project adoption1

Technology integrated in the ENSURE- East Africa project.

Project	Beneficiaries	Budget	Duration	Key figures
ENSURE- East Africa Enabling Environments for Sustainable Regional Agriculture Extension	3,000,000 farmers.	13.14 million	2024–2027	149,940 farmer leaders & trained farmers. 9,996 trained. 2 → 3.5 t/ha.

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Adults 18 and over: Positive high

The poor: Positive high

Women: Positive high

Climate adaptability: Highly adaptable

Biodiversity: No impact on biodiversity

Carbon footprint: Much less carbon released

Environmental health: Greatly improves environmental health

Water use: Much less water used

Problem

Value Loss from Untreated Hides: Without proper treatment, hides, which are highly valuable, may be discarded or used as food along with the carcass.
Lack of Skilled Artisans: Processing hides requires specific skills and materials. The shortage of skilled artisans hinders the realization of hide value.
Limited Economic Opportunities in Local Communities: Communities with access to hides may lack the means to process them, missing out on potential economic benefits.
Inefficient Processing Methods: Without effective curing and tanning methods, hides may not be preserved optimally, resulting in lower-quality products.
Market Access and Diversification: Limited access to markets and a narrow range of leather products can restrict the economic potential of the industry.
Untapped Potential for Entrepreneurs: Young entrepreneurs may not have the means or knowledge to enter the leather industry, missing out on income-generating opportunities.

Solution

Treat hides properly by cleaning, drying, and using special methods. This makes sure they're not wasted and can be used to make valuable products like bags and shoes.
Teach people the skills needed to work with hides. Provide them with the right tools and materials so they can process hides effectively.
Help local communities set up small businesses to process hides. This way, they can make products and sell them for profit.
Use better ways to cure and tan hides. This keeps them in good condition and results in higher-quality products.
Help connect people who process hides to markets where they can sell their products. Encourage them to make a variety of leather items, not just one kind.

Key points to design your program

Hide Curing and Secondary Leatherworks improve the handling, curing, and processing of hides and skins to reduce post-slaughter losses, enhance product quality, increase the value of livestock products, and create income-generating opportunities through leather processing. The technology can be integrated into livestock development, agribusiness, value addition, and rural enterprise development programs. Its adoption contributes to SDGs 1 (No Poverty), 3 (Good Health and Well-being), 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), and 13 (Climate Action).

To integrate this technology into your project, plan and budget for the following activities and prerequisites:

Assess livestock production systems, hide and skin supply, market opportunities, and processing capacity in target areas.
Establish partnerships with International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), livestock sector institutions, extension services, producer organizations, processors, and other livestock value chain stakeholders to support technology dissemination and scaling.
Facilitate access to hide curing materials, processing equipment, and appropriate facilities for leather value addition.
Implement demonstration activities and training for livestock producers, processors, cooperatives, women's groups, youth enterprises, and extension agents on hide handling, curing, preservation, quality management, and leather processing techniques.
Support extension and dissemination activities to promote the adoption of improved hide curing and leather processing technologies.
Promote the participation of women, youth, and smallholder entrepreneurs in leather processing and technology adoption activities.
Implement monitoring, learning, and inclusion activities throughout the project lifecycle.
Track key indicators such as producers reached, hides and skins processed, product quality, value-added leather products, farmer adoption, and income generation.

IP

Open source / open access

Scaling Readiness describes how complete a technology\’s development is and its ability to be scaled. It produces a score that measures a technology\’s readiness along two axes: the level of maturity of the idea itself, and the level to which the technology has been used so far.

Each axis goes from 0 to 9 where 9 is the “ready-to-scale” status. For each technology profile in the e-catalogs we have documented the scaling readiness status from evidence given by the technology providers. The e-catalogs only showcase technologies for which the scaling readiness score is at least 8 for maturity of the idea and 7 for the level of use.

The graph below represents visually the scaling readiness status for this technology, you can see the label of each level by hovering your mouse cursor on the number.

Scaling readiness score of this technology

Maturity of the idea 8 out of 9

Uncontrolled environment: tested

Level of use 8 out of 9

Used by some intended users, in the real world

Maturity of the idea										Level of use
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9

Project	Beneficiaries	Budget	Duration	Key figures
ENSURE- East Africa Enabling Environments for Sustainable Regional Agriculture Extension	3,000,000 farmers.	13.14 million	2024–2027	149,940 farmer leaders & trained farmers. 9,996 trained. 2 → 3.5 t/ha.

Countries with a green colour: Tested & adopted
Countries with a bright green colour: Adopted
Countries with a yellow colour: Tested
Countries with a blue colour: Testing ongoing

Countries where the technology is being tested or has been tested and adopted
Country	Testing ongoing	Tested	Adopted
Burkina Faso	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Cameroon	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Ethiopia	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Kenya	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Mali	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Niger	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Nigeria	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Senegal	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
South Sudan	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Tanzania	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Uganda	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Zimbabwe	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted

This technology can be used in the colored agro-ecological zones. Any zones shown in white are not suitable for this technology.

Agro-ecological zones where this technology can be used
AEZ	Subtropic - cool	Tropic - cool
Arid
Semiarid	–	–
Subhumid
Humid	–	–

Source: HarvestChoice/IFPRI 2009

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals that are applicable to this technology.

Goal 1: no poverty

Goal 3: good health and well-being

Goal 6: clean water and sanitation

Goal 8: decent work and economic growth

Goal 11: sustainable cities and communities

Goal 13: climate action

Cleaning Hides: Start by making sure the hides are clean and free from any extra bits.
Drying Process: Use special methods to make the hides dry, which can take a bit of time depending on the weather.
Turning into Leather: After the drying process, the hides are transformed into high-quality leather.
Making Valuable Products: This leather can then be used to create valuable items like bags, shoes, and clothing.

Last updated on Jul 3, 2026