Industree Foundation

For three decades, Industree has tackled the root causes of poverty by working with women from marginalised rural communities in India, empowering them to build and scale self-owned collective enterprises in the creative manufacturing sector. Focusing on natural fibres and regenerative agricultural value chains, such as banana, bamboo and non-timber forest produce, Industree’s approach enables women producers to use design, technical, marketing and management solutions to bridge the urban-rural divide and increase their incomes. We’re supporting Industree's work on two value chains: the production of plates from sal and siali leaves, and the establishment of a bamboo value chain in the state of Odisha.

industree.org.in | Partner since 2023

Challenge

There are about 8 million rural artisans in India today. While demand for Indian artisan products is growing both in India and abroad, rural women are often unable to benefit from the opportunities this presents. With limited skills and restricted access to markets, working capital and production infrastructure, they remain trapped in precarious, informal livelihoods, struggling to build sustainable incomes and move beyond subsistence.

Response

Industree creates skilled craftsmanship jobs and enterprise ownership opportunities for women in rural India. It trains and supports tribal and rural women to set up end-to-end, market-driven craft value chains, leveraging their traditional skills to transform abundant raw materials into quality retail products, for example making tableware and home décor from sal leaves or bamboo.

In the Sal leaf value chain, Industree is working with more than 1,200 women from tribal communities across Odisha state, equipping them with the skills and tools they need to set up, consolidate and scale self-owned enterprises making leaf plates.

In the bamboo value chain, Industree works closely with the Odisha Livelihoods Mission to support 15,000 women smallholder farmers to grow FSC-certified bamboo on fallow land. It provides them with saplings and guidance on how to cultivate the plants on un-utilised land as well as support with managing and running self-owned creative manufacturing enterprises and bamboo primary processing centres.

Women producers earn steady incomes through fair and equitable work close to their homes and lift themselves out of poverty.