Bhubaneswar: The ‘Farm to Fashion’ concept by Prof Binaya Bhusan Jena of National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Bhubaneswar is being implemented on the ground by Ecodarsini, an eco-friendly fashion brand by Green Queen of Odisha Ms Priyadarsini Das. Through this, the brand has been generating employment opportunities in the sustainable fashion industry.
In collaboration with SPARSH Social Foundation, the CSR wing of JK Papers, Rayagada, Ms Das has trained 25 tribal girls from the Karlakona Panchayat of Rayagada District, popularizing bamboo jewellery making. With the success of the training program, the girls from Badachandili village have become skilled bamboo-jewelry makers and are making a decent livelihood by selling their products in local, regional, domestic, and international markets.
Looking at the prospects and demand for bamboo-based sustainable jewelry, SPARSH Foundation organized another training program, based on the ‘Farm to Fashion’ concept, for 25 tribal girls from two villages, Karlakona and Anguru. They are utilizing the local bamboo available at their backyard in making the jewellery so that the value chain of their product is completely integrated from ‘Farm to Fashion’.
The girls are being trained to make necklace, earring, bangles, hairclip, hair stick and waistband. They are expected to get further support from SPARSH and the Government Departments. “I never imagined that I could also get an opportunity to learn such a skill that can fetch me income seating at my home”, said a trainee girl Laxmi from the Anguru village.
Earlier the Govt. of Odisha and the District Administration through the involvement of Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA) and Orissa Rural Development and Marketing Society (ORMAS) have extended enormous support to these girls. The girls of Badachandili are selling their products through various marketing arrangements, including stalls at the Rayagada Railway Station, Rural Mart, and popular exhibitions in Odisha.
Recently, the President and General Partner at Nanban ESG Solutions, Ms Preetha Pravakar, visited the training site and interacted with the trainees. She has promised to extend all possible support to promote the newly trained bamboo-jewelry trainee tribal girls. The Sarpanch of Karlakona Panchayat, Mr Nilambar Wadaka, also extended all local support and said, “I am extremely happy the way this training programme is being conducted. The trainers from Ecodarsini are really doing a transformative job in our locality with the help of SPARSH Foundation”.
