In today’s high tech and industrialised countries, Nepali handmade products are gaining popularity. From lokta paper to products made from beads, wool, wooden and bamboo, metal and clay, artisans in the country continue to create valuable export products.

 

Handicraft is one of Nepal’s signature products and netted the country Rs5.4 billion in export earnings in the last fiscal year.

 

The sector is not resting on its laurels and has been adapting its products to suit the international market. Manufacturers are focusing on products made using natural fibres such as allo and felt among others, said traders. New variants of traditional items are being introduced and one of the best selling is felt handicraft.

 

Happy Women Handicraft is one of the initiatives that has been working to promote Nepali handicrafts that are beyond the conventional types. “We have mainly focused on handmade felt products made by local women,” said Pramod Chaudhary, proprietor of Happy Women Handicraft.

 

Chaudhary, 33, who hails from Parsha Deward Rural Municipality of Mahottari district, started his handicrafts business in the Kathmandu Valley fifteen years ago. He observed the market trend and switched his family business of Mithila Art to felt items five years ago.

 

Chaudhary said he was inspired by the woollen items produced by women to insulate small huts in the Himalayan regions. “As the handmade items made by women are of better quality and have a large following in the international market, I pivoted my business from overall Nepali handicrafts to felt items made by women,” said Chaudhary, who graduated with a master's degree in public health.