When the Gikuyu and Mumbi settled on the slopes of Mount Kenya, they automatically became farmers. The land was beautiful and very fertile. As 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 gave birth to more children for Gikuyu and Mumbi, they spread further up the slopes of Kirinyaga.
They were heavily agricultural, growing crops such as bananas, sugar cane, lily, yams, beans, millet, corn, black beans, and a variety of vegetables. They also had cattle that provided them with milk and leather. The skin was used to make clothing, sandals, bedding, and household items such as bags. They would also make pots primarily for cooking and barter trading. Woven slippers were also made by the women of the sisal plant. They would use them in the country and also sell them.
The Kikuyu were also merchants. This arose from the need for things that they could not produce themselves. These were mainly tools such as arrowheads, spears, swords, and later jembes. The women would travel long distances to meet the people with whom they would trade their products. These were normally the Masaai, the Kamba and the Okiek. The most common products that were bartered were cattle, 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 products were safe in the caravans.