Guwahati: The North Eastern Development Finance Corporation Limited (NEDFi) recently organised a residential training programme on banana fibre craft for artisans from Nagaland to create a sustainable solution and convert agricultural waste into income-generating avenues. 




The artisans were imparted with skills and knowledge on how to extract banana fibre and use it to create various craft products, including handloom and handicrafts, such as yoga mats, table mats, baskets, bags, stoles and other accessories. The objective was to equip the artisans with new skills that would help enhance their income by diversifying their product offerings.

Ashim Kumar Das, Deputy General Manager of NEDFi Guwahati, told Busines-Northeast that banana fibre extraction is known to be an expensive process but through this programme, NEDFi sought to make it financially viable for the artisans and create sustainable livelihood opportunities. 

Market linkages will be provided to the artisans through organisations like Runaway Nagaland and NGOs, which promised to offer selling platforms for their craft products.

Additionally, the programme piqued interest from various online selling platforms, including JioMart, Amazon and Flipkart, which made product inquiries. 
Also, NEDFi has its selling platform called ‘NE Shilp’ that operates in several states in India, serving as another avenue for the artisans to showcase and sell their products, added Das.

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