Kalpetta Bamboo Cluster

Kalpetta Bamboo Cluster is the growing network of artisans’ micro enterprises, self-help-groups and other stakeholders using bamboo as a resource for livelihood sustenance, value addition and income generation.

We are located in Kalpetta block of Wayanad district in Kerala state, which is situated at the extreme southern tip of the Indian subcontinent. The forests in the hilly Wayanad district are rich in bamboo resources and the tradition of growing bamboo in homestead farms somewhat remains in the region.

Women artisans who have formed their Micro Enterprises and Self-Help-Groups (SHGs) form the core of the Kalpetta Bamboo Cluster. Belonging to various social groups including the Indigenous Peoples and the scheduled caste traditional artisans, they represent the marginalized and economically disadvantaged people in rural Wayanad. Whereas most of them were previously unskilled, they have now acquired skills to make a variety of products out of bamboo through trainings provided by Uravu.

The cluster is being developed under the support of the Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries (SFURTI) program of Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) assisted by the Ministry of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), Government of India.