Banana Fibre Program

The Banana Fibre Project was initiated with the aim of enhancing local livelihoods by utilizing indigenous resources to create marketable crafts. The project focuses on empowering unemployed youth and women by providing them with skill-based training, enabling them to produce value-added products and move towards self-reliance.

Building on the success of the Banana Fibre Unit in Bade Village, YouthNet is advancing holistic empowerment through its Banana Fibre Initiative. In partnership with SIDBI, the program has created sustainable livelihoods for over 150 women and youth in Kiphire by converting banana pseudo stem into a
viable economic resource. In 2025, GAME partnered with YouthNet to establish a comprehensive value chain project in Medziphema, training 140 women and artisans in market-oriented banana fibre products. The initiative combines technical training with financial literacy, business planning, marketing, and soft skills, enabling participants to build sustainable enterprises and grow with confidence.

Lhuv Craft

YouthNet & Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) supported the establishment of a Banana Fibre Unit, Lhuv Craft, in Moya village, Kiphire district.

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Tepfe Rhi

Global Alliance for Mass Entrepreneurship (GAME) partnered with YouthNet to establish a comprehensive Banana Fibre Value Unit, Tepfe Rhi, in Medziphema, Chümoukedima district.

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The use of Banana Fibre for handicrafts, textiles, and other purposes as a natural material is a new concept. Therefore, NTT Data and YouthNet, with the aim of empowering many lives, initiated the strategy of utilizing available resources and creation of employment generation through it. With this aim, YouthNet is implementing a training program on Banana Fibre Extraction Unit & production of value-added products at Bade Village under Dhansiripar sub-Division, Nagaland.

This project not only focuses on imparting hands-on training for the women of Bade village but also helps them sustain through livelihood generation. It empowers them by providing sessions on self-employment, which includes financial literacy, team building, knowledge on a business plan, soft skill activities, and vice versa. The target of this livelihood program is to reach out up to 120 women.

As a result of the year-long training initiative, a remarkable group of unemployed women has come together to form a weaving collective called

Tükhu Rhi

Woven with love from Bade

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Activities at a Glance

  • Hands-on training for the extraction of Banana Fibre
  • Introduction to Self-employment
  • How to start an enterprise?
  • Communication skills
  • SWOT Analysis & Risk Taking
  • Problem-solving
  • Time management
  • Financial management
  • Digital marketing literacy
  • Record keeping
  • Marketing strategies
  • Preparation of Business plan
  • Creating business ideas
  • Awareness on the concept of Business to Business/ Business to customer
  • Pricing/ costing
  • Budgeting/marketing
  • Branding
  • A Glance on Sustainable Enterprise
  • Networking
  • Soft Skill activities

Implementation of Banana Fibre Extraction Unit & production of Value-Added Products

The Banana Fibre extraction training program was initiated at Bade Village. The aim of the program was to set up a unit for the training program & production of value-added products. The first batch of the training program included 5(male) participants due to the requirement of labor-intensive and skilled support, like identification of pseudo stem in and around the forest, and cutting and transporting the pseudo stem to the training unit.

Empowering Women Through the Utilization of Banana Fibers

  • Through this initiative, the community perceived knowledge of utilising pseudo stems which were always discarded as waste according to the villagers.
  • The unskilled women (now skilled) have started carrying out marketing activities, providing themselves with a platform to explore.
  • This initiative has encouraged women to gather orders from different customers & business outlets.
  • The training program is not only confined to the extraction of fibre but also included hands-on training for paper making out of waste produced at the span of fibre extraction.

Exploring Banana Fibre Extraction Unit & Production of Value-Added Products Through Images

Pictures of Progress: Training in Action
Tree to Treasure: Cutting Banana Trees for Fiber Production
Weaving Wonders: Banana Fiber Extraction for Handicrafts
Drying for Durability: Drying Banana Fiber in the Open Air
Crafting with Nature: A Closer Look at Banana Fibre Weaving
Crafting from Fibers: Making Banana Fibre Products with Traditional Techniques
Handmade with Love: Handcrafted Finished Banana Fibre Products
Smiling Faces and Skillful Hearts: Capturing the Lighter Side of Learning

The Road Ahead: Paving the Way for Greater Impact

The above image depicts how handmade Banana Fibre baskets are utilised for gifting purposes. Other value-added products are marketed through Made in Nagaland Centre

YouthNet has reached out to more than 200 women through livelihood generation at Bade village and impacted up to 120 women. They are paving the way towards empowering themselves through a bigger market in the coming days.

YouthNet concentrates on handholding all the trainees trained under Banana Fibre Extraction and providing them with all the necessary skills for setting up a unit. Furthermore, YouthNet aims to set up a well-equipped Banana Fibre Extraction Unit for Bade village, which will be recognized as the hub for banana fibre. This will expand the livelihood program under the Dhansiripar area, which consists of more than 30 villages.

With this initiative, more women shall be empowered through sustainability and soft skills.

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