With the rise in number of people preferring nature-based products, demand for allo-sisnu products is increasing in domestic as well as international markets. Until now it was traditionally used as fodder for cattle.[break]
Sankhuwasabha based Himalayan Allo and Cotton Industry run by local women stated that more than a thousand women were directly or indirectly employed in the industry to make allo products.
“The women-run industry has emerged as the good source of employment to local women uplifting their living standard,” said Dilli Kulung, one of the promoters of the industry.
Kulung said she has been earning monthly net profit of between Rs 10,000 to Rs 12,000 since 2009 after she commenced commercial production of allo products.
Local farmers who collect the allo sisnu in the wild are earning around Rs 500,000 to Rs 600,000 annually.
Women entrepreneurs process allo into fiber to make varieties of products such as slipper, shoes, coat, pant, handkerchief, shawl, muffler, bathroom mats, purse, bags among others. These products sell for Rs 200 to Rs 3,500 per piece in the local market.
The products are consumed in local market and domestic markets as well as outside the country. Nepali allo products are mostly exported to the US, Tibet, Japan, the UK, Austria, Australia, Norway, Russia, France, Denmark and India.
“Domestic as well as local tourists visiting the district buy allo products as souvenir for their friends and relatives back home,” said Kulung.
Allo is found in the wild in 14 VDCs such as Bala, Sisuwa, Tamkhu, Mantewa, Yafu and Hatiya among others at the elevation between 1600 to 1900 meters.
The factory has recorded annual turnover of allo products between Rs 2 million to Rs 2.5 million.
“Besides, number of women are producing and selling allo products individually,” said Janga Kulung, who is looking after the management of the company.
According to the data of Federation of Handicraft Association of Nepal (FHAN), allo products worth Rs 2.1 million was exported in the fiscal year 2011/12, a sharp rise from Rs 1.1 million recorded earlier fiscal year.
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