For thousands of years, communities in the northern Somali region – today, Somaliland and Puntland – have provided the world with the precious gums from the frankincense and myrrh trees. Given that the trees grow only in the wild, often in remote mountainous areas, the labour of collecting these resins is very tough; only men engage in this work. But the women of collecting communities engage in the equally arduous task of sorting, cleaning and packaging the gums.
Frankincense and myrrh forests (usually large groves consisting of several dozen to several hundred trees) have always been exploited by communities, which resemble extended families. Private ownership is very rare, and these forests cannot be bought or sold. This ensures that forest stewardship and collection and processing techniques are passed on from generation to generation. Each tree, and each forest has its own particularities, and the harvesters have intimate knowledge of them.
2Mages works closely with the Beeyo Maal collective to select specific harvesters known for the quality of their resins, paying them a fair price and giving them the recognition they deserve. We expect this will encourage them to specialize in a sustainable and artful exploitation of this unique resource and seek to further improve their product. Instead of buying from the same harvesters, we aim to map the salient points of resin production in Somaliland, and later other regions of the Horn of Africa.
We thus will build a catalogue of resins from different harvesters that perfumers, cosmeticians, aromatherapists, scientists and other aficionados can consult (and smell) to make their choice; we can then ensure a steady supply of the same or similar resins to allow them to develop steady products for their customers.
On each of the following producer pages, you will also find links to the products made with their resins.
Said Awad Araale from Raari Buul, Sahil
Said Westi from Siraadley, Sanaag
Abdillahi Said Awad from Madar Mooge, Sanaag
Ahmed Ali Isse from Hasasha, Sanaag
