Weaving nettles for profit
How business incubation is revitalising traditional textile businesses to sustain Indigenous cultures and improve incomes.
Women entrepreneurs making handicrafts in Nepal (Photo: FECOFUN)
For centuries, women have been producing traditional textiles made from the Himalayan giant nettle or allo plant, which can grow up to three metres tall. They wash, boil, pound and dry the fibres that are then threaded and woven into cloth. Their textile production not only increases local income, but also affirms and conserves ethnic minority cultural traditions.
The Himalayan Grassroots Women’s Natural Resource Management Association (Himawanti) provides business incubation support for groups of women entrepreneurs in Nepal who make culturally important products like these, including the Risheshwor Allo enterprise in Makwanpur district.
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the enterprise was at the point of collapse. But in 2024, Himawanti and the Forest and Farm Facility (FFF) held multistakeholder workshops to discuss how these women entrepreneurs could revitalise their enterprise.
Forest and Farm Facility activities
Stakeholders including municipalities and Himawanti agreed to support Indigenous women-led businesses and six community forest user groups (CFUGs) to expand production.
One of these was the Risheshwor CFUG, which agreed to revise their community forest operational plans to create allo plantations as part of their climate-resilient strategy. They planted over 3,200 allo plants to support ecosystem restoration, following sustainable forest management guidelines. In turn, the CFUG agreed to supply the Risheshwor Allo enterprise with a sustainable supply of raw materials at reduced rates.
The women of Risheshwor Allo enterprise were also provided with training in harvesting, storing and processing techniques for producing high-quality allo threads. With financial support from FFF, the group were able to purchase improved allo processing equipment and maintain their existing equipment, allowing them to strengthen their production capacity.
Through a visit to an established allo enterprise – Allo Bazar Pvt Ltd in Kathmandu– the women were able to learn from other women about their experiences of thread-making, cloth weaving and cloth production processes, and learnt the skills to make coats, bags, shoes and other products.
To expand the enterprise’s market, the FFF facilitated connections with SABAH Nepal, a non-profit community-based social-business organisation that supports marginalised women to achieve economic growth. The enterprise is in the process of becoming a member of SABAH Nepal, which will enable them to sell their allo products through organisation’s market outlets SABAH Bazaar and Allo Bazaar.
In addition, Himawanti have linked up with community FM radio and used social media to raise the profile of the enterprise’s allo products.
Significance of impact
As a result of the changes the women have made and the strategies they have adopted, their income has almost doubled, but also their culture has been strengthened.
The enterprise has also been able to leverage additional support of 2.5 million Nepalese rupees from the provincial government to procure equipment such as spinning wheels, gumming vessels and sewing machines, further securing their future.
Conclusion
In Nepal, FFF support has enabled Himawanti to provide invaluable business incubation support to groups of women entrepreneurs who make culturally important products. This has helped the groups to strengthen production, increase their income and conserve ethnic minority cultural traditions.
Collaborations with local CFUGs have ensured a sustainable supply of raw materials that is also helping with forest restoration, providing a green enterprise model for other CFUGs and related enterprises in Nepal.
Further reading
Insight: Agroforestry entrepreneurship by smallholder farmers – regreening Nepal, Duncan Macqueen (2025)
Revitalized allo enterprise empowers women in Nepal, Forest and Farm Facility (2026)