Tripura Bamboo And Cane Development Centre
(TRIBAC), Tripura |
Tripura
is one of the eight states of Northeast India. It is the second smallest
state of the region after Sikkim with a geographical area 10,491.49 sq.
km and the second most populous state after Assam, with a total population
of about 3.19 million and a population density of 304 per sq. km (compared
with 273 average over the whole of India), as per 2001 Census. While Assam
and Mizoram share its eastern boundary, Bangladesh surrounds it on three
sides through a boundary of 856 km (almost 85% of its perimeter). For
this reason, Bangladesh plays a large role in the development of Tripura,
as a consumptive market and even influencing the social fabric of the
state. |
Tripura
is divided into four districts—North Tripura, South Tripura, West
Tripura and Dhalai. Agartala is the capital of Tripura. There are 15 sub-divisions
in the state 38 development blocks and one autonomous council. Nearly
two-thirds of the area is hilly, leaving very little cultivable land to
meet the requirement of burgeoning population of the state. Tripura’s
per capita net sown area of 0.214 acre is 1.5 times lower than the all-India
level (0.343 acre), indicating the growing population pressure on limited
cultivable land resource of the state. |
Bamboo
has been, and continues to be, an integral part of Tripura’s ecology
and economy. Tripura has about 26 species/varieties of bamboos belonging
to different genera. About 1.2 million tons of bamboo, amounting to eight
percent of the total bamboo harvested in India is harvested from the state.
Total bamboo resources available in the state amount to 14 million tons. |
Bamboo
is an essential housing material for over a million of the rural poor
in the state, and also serves as a widely used material for furniture,
fencing and handicrafts. Bamboo handicrafts from Tripura are immensely
popular throughout India and form a sizeable chunk of the rural economy;
its bamboo screens made from split bamboo are so finely woven that they
look almost like ivory. There are more than 20,000 artisans in the state
and almost 80% of them are involved in making bamboo-based handicrafts
such as bamboo woven textiles for table-mats and window blinds, screens,
hand-fans, small flower bouquet baskets, small baskets, woven mats, etc.
There are several small handicraft-making clusters, and among them the
Nalchar and Chorilam clusters are well known. |
TRIBAC
was set up as an independent non-profit organisation by CIBART in May
2003 to address the livelihood concerns of the people Tripura. TRIBAC
is currently implementing a four-year livelihood development project supported
by the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India, the Government
of Tripura and INBAR. The project covers three of the four districts—North
Tripura, West Tripura and Dhalai—covering an area of 4,312 sq. km
and a population of over 100,000 in 51 Gram Panchayats (village units). |
The
US$1.5 million project aims to utilize the bamboo resources of the state
for economic growth, employment generation, livelihood creation and environmental
protection. TRIBAC has adopted a community-based industrial approach that
is market-driven, establishing several community-owned and operated enterprises.
These enterprises and other initiatives have helped improve the quality
of life for the people. The majority holding of TRIABC has already been
passed on to the community. |
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As the people
in the project area are highly dependent on bamboo, TRIBAC has placed
emphasis on bamboo resource conservation and multiplication. Some 150
farmers have been trained on the technique of macro proliferation to multiply
bamboo seedlings for replanting. About 27,000 seedlings/branch cuttings
of different species were planted in the homesteads of 1,045 families,
since a survey revealed that nearly 41% of the bamboos used in economic
activities come from homesteads. |
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Five community-owned
bamboo nurseries have been set up with community sharing the cost in a
ratio 70:30. These nurseries have raised bamboo plants from seeds of Melocanna
baccifera collected locally, and from seedlings of Schizostachyum dullooa,
Bambusa cacharensis and Dendrocalamus hamiltonii obtained from Tamenglong,
Manipur. The nurseries have also raised clonal planting stocks (mainly
from pre-rooted and pre-rhizomed branch cuttings) of different bamboo
species, such as Bambusa vulgaris, B. polymorpha and B. balcooa. These
nurseries have so far raised over 150,000 bamboo plants, and supplied
close to 70,000 M. baccifera seeds to states such as Uttaranchal, Chattisgarh,
Goa, Kerala, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi. |
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Three cooperative
societies—Bamboo Producers’ Societies—have already been
registered and another one is under process. Such societies provide a
legal status to bamboo producers that enable them to avail of government
loans and grants and facilitate formal business transactions, without
the need for an intermediary. Another aspect is that such legal entities
make it easier to transfer the ownership of the TRIBAC to the community. |
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These societies
have already established marketing tie-ups with various agencies within
and outside the state for selling their products such as bamboo slivers,
seedlings, handicrafts, mats, incense sticks and chicken coups. |
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Drawing on the
strengths of the state, and with technical support from INBAR and other
institutions, TRIBAC has launched an initiative to train artisan communities
to make products of standardized quality to meet the challenges of the
international market. The effort, which first focused on the Nalchar handicrafts
cluster, is now being spread to other areas. |
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TRIBAC has received
1.19 acres of land from the state government, initially on a four-year
lease at Rs 500 per year rent, to set-up the “Bamboo Shilpa Nagari”.
This facility—situated in Gandhi Gram, Agartala—will be a
haven for artisans working with bamboo. It will showcase the potential
of bamboo in a host of areas, including building construction and furniture
manufacture. |
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Community-owned
business enterprise is another area where TRIBAC places much of its resources.
The program has been conceptualized with a key strategy of developing
and converting local bamboo resources into cash income, with very strong
linkages into rural poverty alleviation and sustainable employment/livelihood
generation. By the end of 2004, it had formed 331 SHGs with a total membership
of 4,579, benefiting about 22,900 people. About Rs 492,000 were disbursed
as credit among these SHGs to set up various enterprises, such as incense
stick production, charcoal production, mat weaving, bamboo seedling and
culm production, and bamboo shoots production. |
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Capacity building
through training is the backbone of TRIBAC’s community-oriented
activities. By the end of 2004, TRIBAC had provided training to 550 people
in different aspects of bamboo. One outstanding success story is that
of agabatti (incense stick or joss stick) making. A 400-strong group—including
than 350 women belonging to all age groups, from 18 to 55—was provided
training in agabatti making. What started as a modest enterprise that
make unscented incense sticks, soon evolved into a major production venture
involving 40 SHGs and launching branded (Neer Mahal) scented incense stick.
The product is currently selling well within the district, and plans are
afoot to semi-mechanize the production and target markets in other districts
in Tripura as well as other states. |
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Transportation
is a big problem in the state. So TRIBAC is exploring the possibility
of using alternate and more economical transportation means like waterways.
One such initiative succeeded in manufacturing bamboo boats. Till the
end of 2004, TRIBAC has provided design inputs and financial assistance
to construct three bamboo boats to use in the Khowai River for transportation
of people, materials, fishing, etc. One of them is in plying in Rudrasagar
Lake, located about 55 km from Agartala near Melaghar. This lake, which
measures about 5.3 sq. km in area, is the only one in the North-East to
have a Lake Palace—the Neermahal—and attracts a large number
of tourists each year. The other two have been handed over to fishermen
for trials. |
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TRIBAC’s
future activities will focus services such as capacity building, formation
of more Producers’ Societies and SHGs, technical backstopping for
nursery and plantation enterprises, and establishment of more marketing
linkages. On the production side, TRIBAC views bamboo boat, branded incense
sticks and charcoal as the best bet for ensuring sustainable livelihood
options for the communities. |
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There
is confidence in their strides now. Their eyes shine with a newfound
assurance. Their hands work with a sense of purpose. They have learnt
that they too can make a difference, that they too can generate
cash income to escape the clutches of poverty that hovers over most
of rural India. |
For
the more than 350 women in Nalchar craft cluster in West Tripura district,
future is less threatening now. Tomorrow is not something to be dreaded,
as it brings new opportunities in enterprise. Part of a 400-strong group,
these women have acquired training in agarbatti making – a community
training programme organized by the Tripura Bamboo and Cane Development
Centre (TRIBAC), a Section 25 non-for-profit company dedicated to the
use of bamboo and cane as tools for socio-economic development. |
The
women belong to all age groups, from 18 to 55. Until now, they had no
avenues to earn badly needed cash income. Backbreaking drudgery and half-filled
stomachs were their daily lot. Organizing in self-help groups (SHGs) and
working in enterprise mode have made the difference. |
The
group has recently launched a branded agarbatti, named “Neer Mahal”,
which is earning each of the group members around Rs 750 per month. Of
the 58 SHGs formed under the aegis of TRIBAC in the East Nalchar, West
Nalchar, South Nalchar and Bagabassa Gram Panchayats in Melaghar Rural
Development Block (West Tripura), 40 are involved in the agarbatti enterprise. |
Each
member of the 40 SHGs produces around 25 kg of agarbatti per month. The
raw materials are supplied by the Melaghar Bamboo producers’ Society,
in which all the 58 SHGs – formed by people from 700 households
– have membership. Four such producers’ cooperative societies
have been formed and registered in Tripura under the TRIBAC initiative.
The legal status of these societies helps the SHGs to start business ventures
and tap into government schemes for loans and other facilities. |
Agarbatti
training is part of TRIBAC’s Livelihood Development Project, supported
by the International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR) and the Centre
for Indian Bamboo Resource and Technology (CIBART). The project’s
key strategy is to develop and convert local bamboo resources into cash
economy, with very strong linkages into rural poverty alleviation and
employment and livelihood generation. |
Another
enterprise initiative of TRIBAC in Krishnagar and Sonamuri Gram Panchayats
(North Tripura district) has 50 SHGs making non-scented agarbatti. |
Marketing
is currently local but TRIBAC is planning to seek wider markets when the
production stabilizes and volumes grow. “We have also developed
and tested non-chemical bamboo-based mosquito repellent. It will be launched
soon,” said Mr. Selim Reza, who is spearheading TRIBAC. Other projects
in the pipeline include toilet flush pipes and sewage pipes developed
from Schizostachyum dullooa and Bambusa cacharensis, two bamboo species
that are abundant in Tripura. |
Organizing
the community to work in business mode was a challenge. TRIBAC overcame
the initial resistance and apprehension regarding economic and logistic
sustainability by consolidating the infrastructure, supply and marketing
mechanisms through the Producers’ Society. Once the workability
of the production-to-consumption chain was demonstrated, the SHG members
started believing in their enterprise potential and delivery capabilities.
The process flow approach developed by CIBART helped in efficient organization
of the enterprise. |
TRIBAC
is now planning similar ventures in two other districts – Dhalai
and North Tripura. The trend-setting nature of the TRIBAC initiative has
prompted other SHGs in these areas to plan such enterprise-oriented activities. |
