Beautiful Cocoa Pod Design Raffia Bags Handmade in Madagascar

Our beautiful Cocoa pod design Raffia bags are truly unique. These limited edition raffia bags have been commissioned especially for Lick the Spoon and hand made by the girls at the Avokany Avoko Faravohitra Children’s home in Madagascar with help from the charity Small Steps for Africa.

We have sponsored the home since our visit in 2016 and our monthly donation helps with school fees and day to day running costs of the home. There is no social care in Madagascar so the home offers a valuable safe place for disadvantaged girls to live, attend school, and learn practical skills such as basket making and crafts. The baskets are usually sold to visiting helpers and as well as paying for food and schooling, a percentage of each sale is set aside for each girl’s future.

This is where these beautiful bags came to life. We saw an opportunity for the girls to earn some income utilising their traditional skills and offer our customers a unique and ethically made bag. The bags are handmade using indigenous Madagsacan Raffia palm leaves and feature an embroidered panel with Diana’s cocoa pod design.

All of our work with the home is managed with the help of UK charity Small Steps for Africa (RCN: 1181553).

We have been supporting Akany Avoko Faravohitra home for vulnerable girls in Antananarivo, Madagascar since 2016. Renovated with international support, this home provides a safe haven for girls who can no longer stay with their own families, either because they have been orphaned or their home environment is no longer safe. The Malagasy courts place children at Akany Avoko Faravohitra, which has a capacity to house 50 girls.

It’s important to highlight that this is a unique small scale project to help the home. We’ve only had 45 of these cocoa pod design raffia bags made and each one is unique, varying in colour, size and shape, and even the handwriting used to create the embroidery! 

Each bag is fully lined and features an internal pocket and a draw string top to keep the contents safe.

If you have a colour preference, please add a note at checkout, otherwise we will select a random bag for you. First come first served! There are only a few of each colour so don’t delay!

£12 from every bag sold goes directly to the home and 100% of the profit goes towards ongoing support for the home and the Malagasy people.