Centre for Indian Bamboo Resource and Technology (CIBART)

The Centre for Indian Bamboo Resource and Technology (CIBART) is a registered (No. U20239DL2118053 dated 16 December 2002) Section 8 not-for-profit public company set up in 2002 as the apex technical and policy organization on bamboo in India devoted to rural, economic and environmental development. CIBART implements projects for international development agencies such as International Bamboo and Rattan Orrganisation (INBAR); government programmes such as Development Support Agency of Gujarat, Tribal Development Department, Government of Gujarat; Development Commissioner (Handicrafts) Ministry of Textiles; District Rural Development Agency, Divisional Watershed Development Officer, National... read more The Centre for Indian Bamboo Resource and Technology (CIBART) is a registered (No. U20239DL2118053 dated 16 December 2002) Section 8 not-for-profit public company set up in 2002 as the apex technical and policy organization on bamboo in India devoted to rural, economic and environmental development. CIBART implements projects for international development agencies such as International Bamboo and Rattan Orrganisation (INBAR); government programmes such as Development Support Agency of Gujarat, Tribal Development Department, Government of Gujarat; Development Commissioner (Handicrafts) Ministry of Textiles; District Rural Development Agency, Divisional Watershed Development Officer, National Bank f Agriculture and Rural Development, Khadi Village Industries Corporation and Department of Industry and the Himalayan Forest Research Institute in Himachal Pradesh; Indian Farm Forestry Development Cooperative Limited and National Research and Development Centre. CIBART also implements different programmes for (1) Tata Trusts, India's largest private philanthropic group of organizations; and (2) CSR initiatives for Indian companies. It is the largest group with subsidiary NGOs and social enterprises working with bamboo. It has collective technical experience of 71 years in bamboo, employs 1024 people including bamboo artisans (many are first time women earners), and can address any opportunity for resource utilization and value-added products. The Indian bamboo sector is a prime example of all potential but no matching realization, since processing and manufacturing is constrained by the material. There are issues to be addressed to make manufacturing and quality products possible. CIBART's eight common processing and training centres in five states are outstanding examples of profit making, self-sustaining entities which effectively addresses sustainable management and farming of bamboo for resilient rural livelihoods, to reverse deforestation, meeting the income needs of rural farmers, meeting the household energy needs from biomass processing, improved environmental parameters, and enhanced skills for artisans for increased income. CIBART has a global outlook, yet one that addresses local needs. It is for the communities, but market driven and businesslike. For CIBART, the community is the prime beneficiary, market the goal, and the production of craft and other products using industrialized approaches as the means. CIBART has also worked in Ethiopia, Madagascar and Tanzania as the South-South technical partner on bamboo development for the international organization, INBAR (documented in "South-South in Action: Inspiring Sustainable Development with Bamboo" published by the UN Office for South-South Cooperation, New York). CIBART and the Italian Association undertook several workshops across Italy; and helped set up the Global Marketing Initiative and Design Centre in Gujarat to transfer designs and technologies. CIBART has innovated and produced a mobile micro tissue culture lab within a shipping container for INBAR in Madagascar and Indian Farm Forestry Development Cooperative Limited in Uttar Pradesh to supply quality planting material to poor rural farmers on site which helps them produce any crop/vegetable irrespective of season. Technical assistance to Ethiopia, Madagascar, and Mozambique; training of 40 rural artisans in furniture making and construction and a learning and collaboration development visit in 2013 led to an investment of USD 300,800 in the bamboo sector. Bamboo for construction and structural application led to development of prefab bamboo structures; one is India's largest measuring 10,750 sq ft (a club house). Currently a 170,000 sq ft bamboo training and R&D centre is being built in Maharashtra. In Maharashtra, an institutional ecosystem was incrementally built up with nursery linkages, processing centres, preservation units, and enterprises for crafts, furniture and construction with linkages from growers to processors, and value chains linking processors to rural enterprises to markets benefitting 3000 households from 130 villages. Training programmes supported by various government agencies have created a bamboo workforce of 2638 women and 145 men. Planting material was supplied by government agencies to farmers for bamboo plantation. Male migration has reduced significantly. The site in Maharashtra evolved from a partnership between INBAR and CIBART and is an example of a sustainable ecosystem. CIBART's pilot manufacturing unit with machinery established a commercially viable methodology for bamboo board furniture that found appreciation at the INDEX international Interiors and design event and the Global Bamboo Summit. Bamboo laminate and bent-laminate furniture - joint less door and window frames and rafters can benefit rural communities who can earn sustainable incomes after being trained to produce processed laminated bamboo slats. In Tripura, CIBART developed a network of 330 SHGs enterprises which transformed the lives of over 150,000 women through introduction of value-addition stages of incense stick production which created additional avenues of employment for rural women. Women had steady, first and full time employment in organized clusters with monthly incomes increasing from pre-employment levels of INR 1000-2000 to INR 6000-10000 (depending on the segment of the value chain they worked in, though most choose to work part-time from home) In Uttarakhand, CIBART developed the State Bamboo Policy document based on which Uttarakhand Bamboo Fibre Development Board was set. CIBART was a governing body member. In Gujarat, CIBART piloted a project to increase and sustain livelihood opportunities of 926 tribal families and positively impact 2,000 households using bamboo as the resource. Skills enhancement of Kotwalia (one of India's 100 most primitive tribes) bamboo artisans was through training in production of bamboo furniture and structures. Common facility centres (CFCs) were supported by bamboo plantation at homesteads and community lands for raw material. Today, traditional tribal artisans who struggled hard for subsistence, lived in bullock carts, were indebted to money lenders have transitioned in to a community with enhanced artisanal capacities and sustainable livelihoods. Children go to school; their nutrition intake is healthy; they have regular bank accounts and are mainstreamed into society. By the time grant support ended, the community was working through 2 fully equipped bamboo processing centres which were sustaining themselves through orders. Two eco-tourist villages were built along with bamboo structures - tree houses, gazebos and cottages with bamboo walls and roofing. (one has 12 bamboo cottages, 7 gazebos, 3 shops, 5 sit-outs and about 3 km of bamboo fencing. CIBART produced school desks and following positive feedback from teachers and students, the government mandated that all tribal schools would henceforth procure bamboo school desks produced by CIBART (CIBART is now the second largest producer of bamboo school furniture after the Philippines). Policy makers from Madagascar visited the unit, and replicated the desks in their own country with technical support from CIBART. A 20-kW gasifier was installed in Rajasthan, India, by CIBART, through an IFAD-funded INBAR project which is being replicated in Madagascar (1.2 kg of bamboo produces one kilowatt hour of electricity). CIBART used the biomass gasifier to convert solid fuel such as wood waste, saw dust, bamboo waste, agro-residue briquettes into a gaseous fuel that was used for heat and electricity generation applications. It was piloted to also test the production of char/ charcoals ideally suited for activated carbon production for various water and chemical treatment process, and production of electricity as a by-product for non-electrified houses. Women in the CIBART's project area use firewood for cooking and charcoal produced was thrown away (every day 500 million women around the world cook using firewood). Under the above IFAD-funded INBAR project, CIBART taught women to quench the charcoal before it smoldered into ash. An average household of four or five persons can produce almost a kilogram a day. Every week this was carried in bags to a collection centre and the charcoal sold at market rate. This gives them additional income with no additional work. The pilot project awarded to CIBART, benefitted about 15000 women in Rajasthan and Gujarat. Furniture and cottages are purchased by private individuals/companies, and eco-tourism projects have been completed for the Government of Gujarat and the private sector in Goa and the Maldives. In Uttar Pradesh, CIBART's bamboo boats were used to rescue 1200 marooned people with no drinking water, food and shelter, along with their valuables and small livestock. There were many media reports since the boats cost Rs.30000 so the cost of rescue was Rs. 25 per person. Thousands of rural people are affected by flood s and a Government Order was issued to obtain bamboo boats from CIBART for disaster response. R CIBART makes technologies that enable poor rural people to produce products help them generate sustainable incomes and be more resilient. CIBART's mission is to work with poor rural communities to reduce poverty, enhance livelihood security and improve the quality of their lives by complementing and enhancing existing livelihoods with resilient alternatives using bamboo, through technology and applications development, skill building, and raising productivity and incomes.