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Handicrafts from banana stem fibers (India)

CREED: Centre for rural employment and education for development

Products: mats, hats, bags, baskets, toys made from banana stem fibers

Country: Azhagiamandapam, Kanyakumari district, India

Contact: since 1989, Sundara Santhakumari is the trainer in charge of the banana fibre craft unit and has trained about 2000 women

Clients: government owned retail outlets and to private traders in Tamil Nadu

Contribution of the business to rural development

Strengths and weaknesses

How did the organization started

CREED is an NGO established in 1979 which offers vocational training on banana fibre craft work, tailoring and typewriting, provides financial assistance to the downtrodden for education and engages in social work. They are funded by earnings from fixed bank deposits and revenue from operations such as the banana fiber unit and training. The organization is managed by a board of management with day to day affairs handled by a secretary, accountant, two field staff and an office assistant.
Training is offered on fibre extraction and in making banana stem fibre handicrafts. A two month training course is needed to learn handicraft making.

How are fibres extracted

Collectors gather banana sheaths from farmers' fields after bunches have been harvested. Fibre is usually collected from Nendran (plantain) and red banana types which predominate in the region and which also have the strongest fibre. Collectors do no pay for the stems and are often women from households with marginal resources.
Stems are cut into two feet lengths. A blunt knife is used to separate the pithy material. The fine silky fibre is washed, dried and bundled. There are 2 types of fibres: pure white which is of high quality and dull white, which is medium quality and is purchased by CREED in nearby markets such as in Kulasheharam and from trainees of the organization. The price per kg is Rs. 70.

Fibre extraction

Corse fibre sold in market

Handicraft making

Before the fibre is used for handicrats, dyes are used to make different colored fibres. This is usually done with purchased dyes and the fibre is boiled in water with added dyes for several hours, then removed and dried.

CREED provides dyed banana fibre to women trained in their banana fibre craft unit as well as the design for the product to be woven. Both the fibre and the finished product are weighed. Predetermined prices are paid for each product made.

Dying

Products are usually made based on orders received from traders. The finished products are delivered to traders through a contracted transportation service. Payment is made by the traders through a bank. Once payment is received, the product is released to contracting agency.

Quantity of fibre and wages for each unit of the product

S.No.	Product	Quantity of fibre for each unit of the product (Kg)	Wages Rs. per unit of the Product
1	Chair mat	0.200	12.00
2.	Hand bag	0.350	8.00
3.	Table mat (Big)	0.200	6.00
4.	Table mat (Small)	0.150	4.00
5.	Floor mat	0.500	12.00
6.	Phone mat	0.150	8.00
7.	Flower bag (Small)	0.450	12.00
8.	Flower bag (Big)	0.700	20.00
9.	White line bag	0.550	10.00