While villagers in Maharo and Shimbi Mashariki ranked energy low down in their list of priorities, villagers in Kelamfua ranked fuelwood as their third most problematic issue. Small-scale industries in the area include sawmills, carpentry, tailoring and small repairs. Energy-intensive industries such as brick or lime burning were not seen. The area is thus heavily dependent on agricultural production for income. The most common agricultural products are coffee, bananas, maize, groundnuts and sunflower ranging in this order from higher to lower altitudes.
Milk production is also an important source of income.
Hence fodder for the cattle has to be collected or bought. Grass is either cut on unused plots at lower altitudes or in the forest. The issues that emerged after discussions, interviews and observations were further discussed in village meetings. Finally, in Maharo and Shimbi Mashariki, villagers were asked to rank the issues according to how serious they were perceived. The beans were then seen as investment tokens which each individual could utilise to solve the listed problems.