Industree Foundation has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Nagaland State Rural Livelihoods Mission (NSRLM) to promote regenerative, women-led bamboo livelihoods by integrating 30,000 smallholder women farmers into the bamboo value chain across the state. The agreement, signed in Kohima, is part of the Bamboo Sub-Sector Initiative under the DAY-National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) of the Ministry of Rural Development and aims to strengthen climate-resilient, income-generating rural enterprises.
The partnership will see NSRLM and Industree Foundation collaborate to establish women-led collective enterprises, expand bamboo cultivation on fallow and underutilised land, improve processing capabilities, and strengthen market linkages. The MoU was signed by NSRLM Mission Director Shri Moa Sangtam in the presence of senior officials from NSRLM and Industree Foundation, including CEO Neju George Abraham.
Abraham said Nagaland’s rich bamboo resources and species diversity offer significant commercial opportunities. He noted that the collaboration would support certified bamboo plantations, carbon credit accreditation, processing units, product development, and access to national and international markets.
According to the foundation, women cultivating bamboo can begin earning steady incomes from the fourth year of harvest, with plantations remaining productive for over 40 years. Industree Foundation follows a seed-to-market approach to develop traceable supply chains while supporting sustainable livelihoods and climate action.
In Kohima, the initiative is expected to strengthen the region’s bamboo economy by creating new opportunities for local processing, entrepreneurship and value addition. Increased production and organised market linkages could attract investments in bamboo-based industries, enhance employment opportunities for women-led enterprises, and improve the availability of certified bamboo products for domestic and export markets, boosting Kohima’s role in the state’s emerging green economy.
Industree Foundation, established in 2000 and headquartered in Bengaluru, has implemented similar bamboo livelihood partnerships with State Rural Livelihood Missions in Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Telangana and Tripura. The organisation also recently secured India’s first FSC® Forest Management certification covering 6,671 women bamboo farmers in Karnataka and Maharashtra, enabling access to global markets for responsibly sourced bamboo products.
