The Bhutanese Leading the way.
The Agency for Promotion of Indigenous Craft (APIC) in collaborationwith relevant stakeholders is piloting a cane and bamboo cluster in remote Kheng Bjokha under Zhemgang dzongkhag.
The craft cluster will bring together within a limited area, the producers, suppliers, service providers, related industries and associated institutions to develop, promote and market the specified products like cane and bamboo.
Panabang Dungkhag will help APIC in the process of constructing a production hub in the community area beginning 25th April.
Studies reveal that the craft sector in Bhutan is highly unorganized despite high percentage of workforce, particularly in the rural areas.
The integrated and organized manufacturing of craft products and the cluster concept in the cane and bamboo crafts is being piloted in the community which has traditionally been dependent on the craft works as a part of their livelihood.
The Bjokha Tsharzo Gongphel with 126 members constituted the cluster participants in Bjokha with the support of Department of Agriculture and Marketing Cooperatives(DAMC), extension centre and gewog administration.
The hub would serve the craft communities through trainings on book keeping, new product development and quality enhancement and raw materials harvesting.
The construction is expected to be completed by September.
Bjokha Tsarzo Gongphel Tshogpa has been registered as a cooperative society under the Cooperative Act 2009 and the Cooperative Regulations of 2010. It is the first craft group that has been registered as a cooperatives society.
