Assam: Women from human-elephant conflict-affected villages learn handloom techniques to supplement income

Guwahati (Assam) [India], August 3 : One of India's foremost biodiversity conservation organisations organised two-day handloom training workshops for community women in human-elephant conflict-affected villages in Assam.
The workshop was organised by Aaranyak in partnership with the British Asian Trust and with support from the Darwin Initiative to provide additional livelihood options for women to help them offset some of the losses incurred by the conflict with wild elephants.
Training in skills, such as handloom techniques, can help the women reduce their dependence on traditional livelihood options like paddy cultivation, horticulture, etc. that have become unsustainable in HEC-affected areas.
According to a communiqué from Aaranyak, the availability of sustainable alternative livelihoods fosters better coexistence with wild elephants, improves community well-being and contributes towards biodiversity conservation.
"We learned a range of handloom techniques during the two-day training. It has encouraged me to think seriously about taking up handloom as an alternative livelihood option. In our area, we are frequently in conflict with wild elephants, which often results in extensive damage to crops, our basic and primary source of livelihood," said Joshna Taye, an elderly woman from Sagunpara village in Jorhat district of Assam, a region greatly affected by Human-Elephant Conflict (HEC).
She had attended the training workshop on handloom operations held in her village recently.
Another such training workshop was held in Hatishal village on July 20 and 21.
Nabanita Kalita, a middle-aged lady from another HEC-affected village, Bejorsinga of Jorhat, expressed her happiness with the training experience and usefulness of handloom operations and hoped that it would help her supplement her income.
More than thirty women from HEC-affected areas attended the workshop held in Segunpara village with support from the Darwin Initiative, and over twenty-five women attended a workshop conducted in the community hall of Hatishal village for women from Hatishal and Bejorsinga villages.
"A well-known handloom expert in the area, Nandeswar Deka, taught participants about in-depth handloom applications", Aaranyak official Zakir Islam Borah said.
The training workshops were coordinated by Aaranyak's senior official, Niranjan Bhuyan, with the assistance of Village Champions Sunil Taye, Makhon Kalita, and Sabita Malla. Other Aaranyak officials, including Bidisha Bora, Rimpee Moran, Ananta Dutta, Lakhinath Taid, Chiranjeev Kalita, Afride Rahman, and Jiaur Rahman, helped make the training a success.
Based on the survey results, weaving as a means of supplementing their livelihood was preferred by many village women.
Traditionally, weaving is practised in households, mostly by women to weave daily use clothes.
Aaranyak conducted a series of weaving trainings for these women, who are affected by human-elephant conflict. In Majulis Halodhibari village, 17 women received the training on July 23, while at Gazera and Jaborchuk Kathoni, 32 women participated in the weaving training on July 24.
At Konwarbam and Tanti Pathar  Dibrugarh districts, 20 and 13 women were trained to develop their weaving skills, respectively.
In Sibsagar, weaving training was organised on July 30 and 31, wherein 23 and 30 women were trained, respectively.
Each woman was provided with 5 kg of cotton yarn at the end of the training.