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When Gikuyu and Mumbi settled on the slopes of Mount Kenya, they automatically became farmers. The land was beautiful and very fertile. When they had children, ‘the nine daughters of Gikuyu’, they expanded and took power in most of central Kenya. These daughters were Achera, Agachiku, Airimu, Ambui, Angare, Anjiru, Angui, Aithaga, and Aitherandu. As the ladies married and had more children for Gikuyu and Mumbi, they spread further up the slopes of Kirinyaga.

They were highly agricultural and would produce crops such as bananas, sugar cane, Aryan lily, yams, beans, millet, corn, black beans, and a variety of vegetables. They also earned cattle that provided them with milk and skin. The skin was used to make clothes, sandals, bedding, and household items such as bags. They would also make pots primarily for cooking and for barter trade. The women also made woven baskets from the sisal plant. They would use them nationally and also sell them.

The Kikuyu were also merchants. This arose out of the need for things that they could not produce for themselves. These were mainly tools like arrowheads, spears, swords, and later jembas. The women would travel long distances to meet the people with whom they would exchange their goods. These were normally the Masai, the Kamba, and the Okiek. The most common products that were exchanged were livestock, agricultural products, iron tools, tobacco, salt and ocher. A market was found in densely populated places and an intermediary representing the women in the market made sure that the goods were safe in the caravans.

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