Women empowerment has been an important development agenda in Nepal since the recent few years. The increasing realization that ensuring women participation in economic activities lead to improved development outcomes for this agenda. There are various cottage industries based on traditional crafts and skill, which have been given a great priority from the national level. One of such is the industries based on Lokta paper( Nepali Kagaz).
The Lokta paper items are world widely recognized for their high quality features. Lokta papers once solely used by the government for official uses are gaining popularity. Today, they are regarded as the best gifting items and also used for many other purposes. Due to the paper’s durability and eco-friendly nature, environmentally conscious people have started using it as the best alternatives for synthetically made non-recyclable paper and plastic products. The most common review from the lokta products customers ,” These are non just durable, beautiful and unique , but are eco-friendly” and this is 100 % a fact.
The Lokta based industries range from the Lokta paper making from the basic raw material. Lokta plants, found exclusively in the high hills of Nepal are the source of the lokta paper. Villagers harvest lokta by cutting the stem/bark from the plants, without destroying the plant entirely , which allows the regeneration of the plant upto many years and that is also the reason why Lokta paper business is preferred by many.
As sourced from an article in the Kathmandu Post, Tilhari Khadka, a local villager woman said,” Many women collect lokta bark to earn money for household expenses and school fees of their children. Before, women had to look out for credit whenever male members were not home. But now, the lokta collection helps cover household expenses and makes day-to-day life really easy.”
Lokta barks are sold to the handmade paper factories at a very good price , giving these hard working women fair earnings. As per the research on Lokta paper making, it is found that women , either as workers or as entrepreneurs, play important roles whether it be Lokta collection, cleaning , grading, making paper and finished products or exporting. Over 70 percent of the workers are women and over 85 percent are based in mountain villages.
Get To Know From Artisans Themselves
Kanchan Koju, a Lokta paper artisan and entrepreneur from Byasi, Bhaktapur says in her interview, “ I make crafts from lokta paper like photo frames, lampshades, boxes, notebooks , photo albums, etc and I get lokta all the way from Panauti. We have a small factory built in our own house. So I do all my work there. “ When asked what her favorite thing about her work is, she says,” Every time I create something I really feel the pride of being skilled and independent which inspires me to work further. So I really love my work.”