Fibrent – Redesigning Tradition, Restoring Livelihoods and Land
Fibrent – The Craft Women Producer Company Ltd. – is a women-led, land-based bamboo craft initiative that emerged as a transformative response to Kerala’s 2018 floods. Anchored in the flood-affected river basins of Pamba, Achankovil, and Manimala, the project brings together environmental restoration, traditional knowledge, and the resilience of Dalit and Adivasi women to create sustainable and dignified livelihoods.

Fibrent was initiated by Partnering Hope Into Action (PHIA) Foundation in collaboration with RIGHTS, and funded by Christian Aid (CAID), as part of a climate-resilient livelihood recovery programme. The intervention focused on communities that are often pushed to the periphery—Scheduled Castes (Dalits) and Scheduled Tribes (Adivasis)—especially women, who face the intersectional burdens of caste, gender, economic marginalization, and environmental vulnerability.
From Post-Disaster Recovery to Sustainable Livelihoods

Following the 2018 floods, which devastated entire communities and ecosystems in Kerala, a critical need emerged to design recovery pathways that were not just compensatory but transformational. Many of the flood-affected households came from historically marginalized backgrounds and had lost both their homes and means of income. The project identified the potential of bamboo—an abundant, versatile, and climate-smart resource in the region—as the core of a new, environmentally aligned livelihood strategy.

Kerala’s bamboo ecosystems, especially along the river basins, had long sustained traditional livelihoods, particularly among Dalit and Adivasi artisans. However, these crafts had declined due to shifts in agricultural priorities, lack of institutional support, the dominance of plastic products, and restrictive forest extraction policies. Fibrent aimed to revive and modernize this dying art—reconnecting it with land, culture, and ecological balance.
Land, Livelihoods, and the Bamboo Commons

Bamboo is not just a craft material—it is an ecosystem builder, a climate-regulating species, and a symbol of sustainable design. Kerala is home to several species of bamboo, and its traditional use spans agriculture, architecture, food, and art. The floodplains where Fibrent operates are both rich in bamboo biodiversity and vulnerable to climate-induced disasters, making this a critical zone for regenerative interventions.

Fibrent situates itself within this ecological context. The project promotes a clean, regenerative, and circular bamboo economy that supports land restoration and reduces dependency on forest extraction. The production model emphasizes sourcing from agroforestry systems and community-managed bamboo plots, ensuring both ecological sustainability and a reliable supply chain.

Fibrent’s bamboo ecosystem approach integrates the following:

Training local communities in sustainable harvesting and propagation

Avoiding overextraction from forest ecosystems

Promoting eco-certification and traceability for clean supply chains

Integrating land care into livelihood practices

Gender, Caste, and Reclaiming Craft

Historically, bamboo craft has been a caste-based and gendered occupation, often performed within Dalit and Indigenous households. However, this work was neither recognized nor supported within mainstream market systems. Women, in particular, bore the burden of production without fair wages, identity, or autonomy.

Fibrent deliberately breaks these structural constraints by:

Federating women artisans into a registered producer company—the first of its kind in the bamboo sector in Kerala

Introducing neighborhood production units where women can work locally with transparent wage systems

Making bamboo design a skill of dignity and innovation, open to all castes and religions while prioritizing historically excluded communities

Combining traditional knowledge with modern design thinking and market orientation

This transformation has turned bamboo from a survival craft into a pathway for creative expression, community leadership, and economic empowerment.
Innovation in Craft and Market Systems

Unlike traditional bamboo craft models, which are informal, underfunded, and dependent on individual labor, Fibrent has developed a collective, decentralized, and innovation-driven structure:

Product Innovation
From agricultural baskets to Bluetooth speaker boxes, mobile stands, stationery, toothbrush holders, and office décor—Fibrent’s product range is constantly evolving. Modern aesthetics and functionality are embedded into the design process, expanding the craft beyond traditional boundaries.

Technology and Tools
While retaining the hand-crafted essence of bamboo products, Fibrent introduced basic machines and tools to support cutting, splitting, and pre-craft preparation. This increases efficiency, safety, and the volume of production without compromising the artisanal nature of the work.

Supply Chain Transformation
Traditional bamboo artisans often had to spend days sourcing raw materials, crafting products, and selling them in informal markets. Fibrent has unbundled this burden by creating:

    A centralized raw material procurement and ecological monitoring system

    Dedicated sourcing and marketing wings

    A clean and traceable supply chain that balances ecology and economy

This structure enables women artisans to focus on production while collectively benefiting from better market access and bargaining power.

Market Access and Platforms
Fibrent has:

    Secured purchase orders from local panchayats and exhibitions

    Initiated partnerships with online platforms like Amazon and Flipkart

    Launched its own e-commerce platform: www.fibrent.in

These efforts are aimed at scaling local production to national and global markets, without losing the ethical and ecological essence of the products.

Building Institutions, Not Just Products

A critical pillar of Fibrent is institution-building. The project has formalized a federation of craftswomen under the registered entity:
Fibrent – The Craft Women Producer Company Ltd.
This is not just a legal structure but a space for collective decision-making, ownership, and leadership by the women themselves.

Through capacity building, leadership training, and skill enhancement workshops, the women have moved from being passive recipients of aid to active stewards of land, labor, and knowledge.
Impact and Vision Ahead

Despite challenges such as the COVID-19 lockdown and market closures, the Fibrent model has shown resilience and adaptability. Activities resumed post-lockdown with renewed energy: refresher trainings, raw material support, and resumed production have brought life back into local economies.

The impact so far includes:

Training of over 100 women from marginalized backgrounds

Establishment of neighborhood-level craft units in three districts

Revitalization of traditional bamboo craft as a climate-resilient livelihood

Introduction of more than 50 new bamboo product designs

Launch of Kerala’s first producer company in the bamboo sector

Promotion of land-conscious, environmentally friendly supply chains

Why Fibrent Matters

Fibrent is not just about bamboo. It is about:

Reclaiming land as a source of life, identity, and livelihood

Restoring tradition without romanticizing or freezing it

Rebuilding dignity in work and identity

Resisting climate vulnerability through grassroots innovation

Redesigning systems to be just, inclusive, and ecological

As the climate crisis deepens and conventional development pathways continue to exclude and exhaust, Fibrent offers a replicable, people-powered model of community adaptation—where women from the most marginalized communities become craftswomen of the future.