Company Focus:  We design and hand-knit/crochet toy animals and dolls. Our brand is about engaging children in environmental issues using our toys as a vehicle to inspire and instil interest and awareness. Our toys are split into collections each with their own message and environmental cause to follow. For instance our Zambezi Bush Kids Collection, which has both animal and doll designs, focuses on human/animal conflict contributing a portion of profits to organisations that work with local communities to live in harmony with wildlife. Our Conservation Collection designs toys specifically for conservation organisations to retail and the designs are based around actual animals on the ground that the organisation may be working with such as the Game rangers International Elephant Orphanage Project. Making bespoke toys for groups/organisations/companies is one of our special talents!

Social Impact: Little Ndaba is as much about the women that make our toys as the toys themselves. We engage groups of women from various communities across Zambia to knit and/or crochet the pieces of our toys which are then brought back to our studio to be washed and joined by another group of women. The women we reach out to usually have very little opportunity for generating income due to limited education and very often large number of dependants to look after. However, knitting and crochet is usually a skill that many women either already have or can easily and cheaply learn. By creating toys for LN the women are able to contribute to their family finances using a skill they already have as well as benefit from the flexibility of working around their farming and family commitments. Through their training and ongoing work with Little Ndaba, the women learn many other skills and attitudes that help to set them up to be more successful in all areas of their life as well as in their work with LN. We strongly believe that empowerment begins with developing a sense of independence, a positive mindset and strong self-belief and this is what we strive to nurture in the women that we work with. Mary Chileshe, one of our joiners, explains that she feels proud to be able to keep her kids in school, food on the table and rent paid while her husband was out of work. She says she also feels in a stronger position within her relationship with him knowing that if she had to survive on her own she could. One of the greatest challenges many of our women face is being economically dependent on their husbands and having no choice but to accept the abuse and cheating that is sadly all too common. Another of our joiners, Susan, says she feels people now respect her more and her opinions are better valued in family disputes now that she no longer has to beg for help. Liana says she has learnt to value her time much more, that she now enjoys spending her time being productive and not engaging in worthless activities and gossip. Eliza says that since she has been able to earn her own money she has taught her children the importance of self-reliance and is teaching them how to knit and crochet so they can have skills to earn their own money later in life.

Terms & Conditions: 

We require a 50% deposit before production begins and 50% upon completion.