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Report on Cluster Development Training Programme for Implementing Agencies for

‘Promoting Integrated Bamboo Based Enterprise Development among SAARC countries’

2nd – 6th July 2018

India

Under the ambit of the 3-year project ‘Promoting Integrated Bamboo based Enterprise

Development among SAARC countries’ funded by SAARC Development Fund, a five-day

bamboo cluster development training programme for implementing agencies (IAs) of 5

countries viz. Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and India was organised by the

Foundation for MSME Clusters (FMC) in India from 2nd to 6th July 2018. There was a total

participation of 24 project officials (refer annex-1 for trainees list) from the respective IAs

which included project director/ manager, cluster development manager, network

development manager, finance manager and other field staff.

The 5-day programme (refer annex-2 for agenda/sessions) was designed to cover two

critical aspects required to implement the project. One is to understand the cluster

development methodology employed to achieve the objective of the project; and second is to

understand the technical aspects of managing and using bamboo resources for promoting

enterprises to generate employment & income opportunities in the participating countries.

The 5 day programme was split into two days of exposure/field visit followed by three days

of interactive classroom discussions with experts with the following specific objectives:

• Understand cluster development methodology with successful global and national case

studies; overview of Social Enterprise (SE)/ Business Membership Organisation (BMO)

Participants with experts at Einstein hall, New Delhi

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models to manage collective actions and their governance structure and revenue

models

• Exposure to a well performing cluster in India to see the Common Facility Centre,

Bamboo Plantation, interact with artisans, Business Development Service Providers

(BDSPs) and other key stakeholders

• Interaction with experts to understand technical aspects of pre-processing & processing

technology and potential sources to get inputs/services

• Understand the process of conducting baseline, Social Analysis & Resource Mapping

(SARM) and Business Plan prepared by IAs, discuss the findings and future roadmap

Exposure Visit to KONBAC in Kudal, Maharashtra (2nd-3rd July 2018)

The primary purpose of the visit was to develop a comprehensive understanding of bamboo

sector with special focus on bamboo application and technology; apprehend the successful

business model of bamboo enterprise development and their enterprising activities; study

the successful enterprise’s value chain development i.e.

plantation, bamboo resource management, processing,

technology, product development (with special emphasis on

niche innovative products) to final marketing; and operation of

Common Facility Centre (CFC).

The delegates visited the successful enterprise-Konkan

Bamboo and Cane Development Centre (KONBAC) in Kudal,

Maharashtra. Its Founding Director, Mr. Sanjiv Karpe shared

KONBAC’s thought-provoking twenty-year-old journey in

bamboo sector; interventions made in the cluster to promote

non-thorny bamboo plantations, establishment of KONBAC,

Native KONBAC Pvt. Ltd, showed various high quality

innovative bamboo products, etc. He mentioned the social

and practical challenges which were gradually overcome with the team effort to reach the

present stage. He elucidated his journey in the following stages:

A. Ideation: in 1998, Mr. Sanjiv Karpe along with a few like-minded people started

manufacturing wooden furniture to provide employment to his native place, Kudal. The

huge amount of forest timber required for this purpose and slow replenishment of timber

(nearly 30-35 years) led them to explore other materials.

B. Conceptualization: Mr. Karpe and his group identified the abundant availability of bamboo

in Sindhudurg district and in particular Kudal village. Bamboo does not need high end

cultivation process and local farmers grow bamboo in their private land using traditional

method of cultivation i.e. rhizome cultivation. Bamboo needs only 4-5 years to mature so it

can be easily replenished. Thus, Mr. Karpe and his group decided to enter in bamboo

product manufacturing. They went on to establish Konkan Bamboo and Cane Development

Centre (KONBAC), a non-profit organization which works towards social entrepreneurship

of bamboo artisans.

Mr. Karpe presents his

journey in bamboo cluster

development at KONBAC

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C. Raw material plantation: KONBAC focused on

scientific plantation of D.stocksii i.e. vegetative

plantation and tissue culture plantation. KONBAC

conducted farmers’ awareness programs and provided

them field training. KONBAC approached the State

Forestry Research Institute for producing planting

material which costs Rs.25 per piece in 2005. They

even approached NABARD for giving grant-based

support to farmers for buying the planting material. At

present there are 10,000 farmers in Sindhudurg district

producing mostly D. stocksii. KONBAC introduced age grading of bamboo to farmers for

high end use of bamboo.

D. Skill up gradation program: KONBAC started skill up gradation programs in villages

predominantly for women bamboo artisans for making new value-added bamboo products

apart from daily utility products. KONBAC introduced

new designs which gave the artisans higher income.

This attracted more women artisans to get involved

in KONBAC’s program. KONBAC introduced training

with modern tools, attractive designs, jigs and

moulds for maintaining uniformity, natural dye,

preservation techniques, production centre concept,

and promoted bamboo products as durable eco-

friendly products.

E. Product diversification: KONBAC established a private limited company called “Native

KONBAC Bamboo Products Pvt. Ltd” in 2009. The

Native KONBAC company introduced bend bamboo

(diameter 2 inch) furniture without using cane

binding. The company gave training to young male

participants in villages, introduced new designs from

National Institute of Design and other institutes,

made prototypes, and started test marketing of

products, product promotion and commercial

production. The company introduced its brand

“Mannga Exotiques” for selling its furniture. The

turnover of the company has increased from Rs.30

lac in 2009 to Rs. 5 Crores in 2016-17 and it employs

400 people from nearby rural areas.

F. Raw material processing: Raw material processing for bamboo furniture is a very

important activity in furniture making as scientifically processed bamboo leads to better

durability of the product. Processed D. stocksii bamboo furniture gives durability of 50

years and even more for interior uses. So KONBAC established a common facility centre at

Kudal for raw material processing. The CFC has quality control, primary processing

facilities as follows

a. Age grading and storing

b. Pressure treatment

c. Preservative treatment

d. Washing after pressure treatment

e. Straightening

Participants listen to Mr. Karpe at

Primary processing centre in Kudal

Different bamboos are kept separately for

primary processing

Pre-fabricated bamboo

columns for housing

construction

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f. Drying

g. Cutting of bamboo

h. Bamboo strip making

i. Furniture joinery making

The CFC has pressure treatment equipment for 20ft bamboos under National Mission

Bamboo Application of Government of India. The installed capacity of the equipment is 300

pcs/pole in one batch providing 10.5KG/ sq.cm pressure for 20mins using preservative

chemicals. The whole process takes nearly 2hrs which includes loading and unloading of

bamboo. The equipment can operate 5 times in single shift of 10 hours. During this pressure

treatment, preservative chemicals are used which goes into the bamboo capillaries to make

the bamboo resistant to insects, fungus attack. This treated bamboo is then washed in water

to remove external chemicals on bamboo pole. The chemical added water is reused just by

correcting proper concentration of chemical. The bamboo pole is then kept in sunlight for

drying. Straightening of bamboo is conducted after drying of bamboo using low heat fire

treatment. Other processes are undertaken as per requirement.

G. Replication: KONBAC also replicates its skill up gradation program, furniture making

training program, scientific plantation program in other areas. It undertook bamboo livelihood

business enterprise project in Tapi, Gujarat; Navasari, Gujrat. It works with Lavasa, a

corporate company for construction of bamboo villas by giving training to affected rural

workers. It is working with Maharastra government for livelihood of tribal villagers.

H. Bamboo Structure: Native KONBAC started making bamboo

structures since 2011. It makes bamboo cottages for tourism

sector in India and Maldives and has made a club house in

Hyderabad. For making bamboo structures, the company makes

pre-fabricated components at different units in Kudal. Pre-

fabricated components require bending, load testing, approval of

structural designs. It makes bamboo items for landscaping,

cottage, roof for farm house, etc.

I. Business Model: Mr. Karpe discussed that the business model

for bamboo product should be prepared keeping two things in

mind:

1) Innovative designs which attracts the customer

2) Good quality which gives durability of the product based on its

application.

He substituted Low price and medium quality product by

premium/good product at competitive prices.

After the interactive meeting session, participants visited the

CFC, understood the operation of bamboo processing centre,

bamboo furniture component manufacturing centre, pre-fabricated bamboo component

making centre. Mr. Karpe and his team gave practical demonstration to us. Three different

operational units were visited to observe the operations.

The participants visited CHIVAR, a bamboo craft cluster development project under SFURTI

Scheme, MoMSME, GoI. Here, the participants were exposed to various handicraft bamboo

Bamboo workers are making bamboo

structure

Mr. Karpe with bamboo

farmer Mr. Sunil at Narror

village

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items viz. decorative items, utility products etc. After visiting CHIVAR participants visited

Hirlok and Naroor village in Kudal. In both the villages participants got exposure to scientific

techniques of bamboo plantation and cultivation. One of the farmers admitted that most of

the farmers in Kudal are into bamboo cultivation as it is a high income generating crop for

them. It changes the agro economy of the district.

On the second day the participants visited Sahyadri Bamboo Nursery at Pinguli and met Mr.

Milind Patil. Mr. Patil is pursuing Ph.D in Bamboo

plantation and is engaged in nursery business

since the last 4 years. He keeps seed and

vegetative plantation material of D. stocksii, B.

balcooa mostly because of high demand from

local buyers. He is also currently tryin to produce

some more species keeping the climatic

conditions in mind. Mr. Patil explained that the

process of plantation under tree sheds is different

from traditional plantation methods. Although the

tree shed plantation gives less number of culms

but it grows to greater lengths and diameter which

draws more monetary value per culm.

On the second day, the participants visited one of the bamboo cottages made by Native

KONBAC at Kondura sea beach. It was made in 2011 and is a private resort owned by Mr.

Rajan. Mr. Rajan told that although the bamboo cottage is an open place and faces extreme

humid atmospheric conditions throughout the year, but the cottage has not demanded any

maintenance in the last seven years.

Classroom Training Programme (4th July 2018, Delhi)

The delegates participated in the classroom training programme on bamboo cluster

development at FMC office, New Delhi on 4th July 2018.

Introduction to Cluster Development Concept:

Mr. Mukesh Gulati, Executive Trustee and Senior

Advisor, FMC welcomed the participants and had a

round of introduction with everyone. He set the

tone of the program by introducing the project

partners and the expected objectives of the training

programme. Through an interactive approach, he

introduced cluster development concept elaborately

to the participants with definition of cluster, types of

cluster with examples, various stakeholders in the cluster and their inter linkages, working of

the cluster system etc. He discussed global presence of clusters and their challenges and

quoted examples of successful clusters. Mr. Gulati focused on the relevance of cluster

approach in SDF bamboo project which is to maximise the potential of bamboo by reducing

wastage and attract governmental support.

Mr. Patil demonstrate bamboo plantation

at his nursery

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Situational Analysis and Mapping of Resources (SARM) in Cluster: Ms. Sangeeta

Agasty, GM, FMC took session on situational analysis and resource mapping (SARM) in the

clusters. In this detailed session, she discussed understanding of critical aspects of SARM

especially with respect to capturing vital information, product/ service identification,

stakeholder analysis, value chain analysis, analysis of business operation to understand

pressure point of the cluster. Ms. Agasty introduced participatory assessment tools for social

and resource mapping by discussing sample questionnaire and participatory tools for data

collection. She also showed the SARM and Baseline template to the participants.

Business Plan: Mr. ASK Sharma, GM, FMC delivered a session on business plan

preparation wherein he emphasized on the sustainability of the business plan to run a

common facility centre (CFC). He introduced the concept of special purpose vehicle or a

registered body to own the CFC and make it operational. He discussed different aspects of

the CFC viz. administration, HR management, sustainability, inclusivity, revenue generation

mechanism, marketing of CFC service/ products etc. Revenue generation mechanism can

be either service based (user charge basis) or production based (selling products under

common brand). In some cases both the options can be chosen proportionately. Appropriate

human resource is required to work in the CFC. In case of artisan-based CFC, skilled

artisans is one of the most important factors to run CFC sustainably. In case of industrial

CFC, skilled manpower to operate the machine optimally is one of the important factors.

Inclusivity means to involve the community for developing the CFC from the beginning as it

needs to contribute financially and utilise the CFC for value addition to their products or

services.

Policy and Institutional Networking Event on Bamboo Enterprise Development (5th July 2018, New Delhi)

A policy and institutional networking event was organized to facilitate interaction among

SAARC delegates, key policy stakeholders, technical institutions as well as key private

stakeholder (refer annex-3 for list of guests). This was organized at Jaypee Vasant

Continental, New Delhi on 5th July 2018.

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Inaugural Session

Welcoming the delegates, Mr. Arun Maira, Chairman of FMC endeavours towards a social

enterprise-based cluster development model. He attributes the development in any country

or society invariably to the efficient economic

utilisation/commercialisation of its natural resource, which

leads to large scale livelihoods and income generating

activities. Bamboo being a sustainable natural resource in

SAARC countries, he emphasized on promoting organized

bamboo enterprises through cluster development model.

Technology is an inevitable requirement to manufacture

value added bamboo products. Identification of right

market to sell these value-added bamboo products is another key factor to promote bamboo

as a livelihood for the society. Mr. Maira suggested the IAs to keep striving for new and

innovative ideas which is pivotal for the establishment of social enterprise-based cluster

development model.

Ms. Sarojini Kaul, Sr. Project Manager, European Union (EU), Delegation to India, stated

EU’s development agenda i.e. identifying sustainable solutions for consumption and

production patterns, which is garnering global attention.

Through Switch Asia (SA) program, EU is partnering with

many Asian countries including SAARC countries to focus

on sustainable consumption and production (SCP).

Bamboo is a crucial resource aiding in the attainment of

the SDGs. Ms. Kaul mentioned that EU under its SA

umbrella is supporting a project on “Promote Bamboo

MSME Clusters for Sustainable Development”

implemented by the Foundation for MSME Clusters (FMC)

in India. She mentioned that SA program has three components namely, Policy dialogue,

Networking facility, and Grant based projects. Under policy dialogue, the program engages

with national level governments to improve their policies with better focus on SCP and

SDGs. The Networking facility promotes dissemination of best results from Switch Asia

projects to different Asian Governments for them to imbibe the better practices during

drafting their policies.

UNIDO representative, Dr. Rene Van Berkel gave an

overview of UNIDO’s contribution in SAARC countries for

improvement of livelihood and industrialization through

cluster-based value chain development, economic

competitiveness, environmental sustainability, social

inclusivity, knowledge networks, and institutional

partnerships among different countries. In North-East

India, UNIDO has supported in establishment of Cane and

Bamboo Technology Centre, Guwahati, India for new

technology sourcing in the bamboo cluster. Dr. Rene

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further informed that UNIDO has supported many projects in different countries for high end

bamboo product development. One of such projects is at Numaligarh, Assam for production

of bio-ethanol using bamboo resource.

Mr. D.N. Magar, Chief General Manager, OFDD, NABARD focused on nonfarm sector

(includes micro and small enterprises) and explained NABARD’s contribution to GDP,

reduction in regional disparity by creating employment and

livelihood opportunities for rural people. For the same purpose,

NABARD has started agri-business incubation centre which

promotes enterprise development by giving support to start-ups/

enterprises which aim to commercialize their products and

upscale their innovations. He opined that NABARD has under-

taken two important activities viz. skill development of rural

people and giving them marketing linkages. He cited off farm

producer organisation (OFPO) guidelines of NABARD for taking

cluster activities in MSMEs. NABARD is co-funding the SDF project- India component by

giving design/ product development and skill development support in two clusters. After 3

years, both the clusters will have sustainable OFPOs to carry forward the cluster

development initiative to generate economic opportunities for its member artisans &

entrepreneurs.

Dr. Sunil Motiwal, Chief Executive Officer, SDF, Thimpu delivered the theme address of the

event. He briefed the objective and activities of SDF and mentioned that. SAARC

Development Fund (SDF) is the umbrella body for funding

programmes in SAARC countries with authorized capital of

1.5 billion dollars and paid up capital and other contributions

estimating around 5 billion dollars. SDF is currently

implementing 14 projects out of which 12 projects are under

social window and 2 projects are infrastructure based. The

project ‘Promoting integrated bamboo-based enterprise

development among SAARC countries’ is the first co-funded

project in bamboo sector under social window of SDF. He highlighted four key factors for the

success of the project- new product mix, market linkage (approaches to new market with

value added product), sustainability of the cluster after project completion, revenue

generation model (healthy bottom line to survive in long run). Dr. Motiwal mentioned that

SDF is willing to explore partnership with other multilateral funding agencies like UNIDO &

EU who have similar development mandates to complement the initiatives across the

SAARC region.

Inaugural address was given by Mr. Ram Mohan Mishra,

Additional Secretary and Development Commissioner,

MoMSME, Government of India. Mr. Mishra laid emphasis

on integration of social enterprises and producer networks

in business ecosystems. Right kind of leadership is crucial

for a social enterprise to run successfully. He focussed on

capacity creation of small scale entrepreneurs such as

capacity to make sustainable business plan, adept at

finance linkages, business knowledge and network which are requisites to run a sustainable

enterprise. Producers also play a key role in cluster development and its governance by

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enhancing trust building among stakeholders and roping in anchor investors for initial fund

requirement. Anchor investors not only bring fund but also business acumen. He also

requested the IAs to encourage women entrepreneurs to come forward and integrate in the

business ecosystem.

The inaugural session was concluded by giving vote of thanks to all the speakers by Dr.

Tamal Sarkar, Executive Director, FMC.

Technical Session

Dr. B.N. Mohanty, IFS, Director of Indian Plywood Industries Research and Training

Institute (IPIRTI) presented a session on ‘scope of bamboo-based enterprises in SAARC

countries’. He outlined the key activities undertaken by

IPIRTI such as research and development, training and

education, testing and standardization, technical

consultancy support relating to panel products from wood,

bamboo, and other renewable resources including agro and

forest residues. He mentioned that 65% of world’s bamboo

resource is present in Asia and India has 30% of world’s

bamboo resource. India has the largest bamboo area

available (11.4 million hectare) which is double than China

but the production is only USD 4 billion i.e. 6.5 times lesser than China. Major hurdles for

development are irregular availability of bamboo, poor market linkage, lack of tech-transfer

and training for value added product, poor post-harvest and treatment, competition from

overseas product etc. Dr. Mohanty discussed different generations of bamboo product made

by IPIRTI. At present, 4th Generation bamboo products are available at IPIRTI.

Mr. Mukesh Gulati, Executive Trustee and Advisor, FMC gave presentation on ‘social

enterprise model to address cluster problems and challenges’. He informed that there is no

standard definition of social enterprise (SE) in India;

however as per US government and British Council’s

definition: any business with social objective whose surplus

is reinvested for the purpose is called a social enterprise.

Mr. Gulati mentioned that major challenges for a SE are lack

of regulatory framework, funding arrangement, human

resource issue, scale and sustainability. More than one

country can collaborate together in promoting SE. Mr. Gulati

opined that CFC is also a social enterprise as it is formed to

give benefits to cluster stakeholders i.e. society at large and

by default, its business model reinvests the surplus amount into it. Creation of CFC needs

understanding of business dimensions keeping in mind social and environmental objectives.

The ownership of the CFC will be with the community who will run it by engaging competent

human resource.

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Monitoring & Evaluation Session on cluster work progress

Mr. Adnan Alam, Assistant Director, Monitoring and Evaluation, SDF gave presentation on

SDF Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) Policy Guidelines, 2018. The vision of the guidelines is

to improve SDF outcomes and its impact on the society. He mentioned that the objective of

the M&E session is to establish a sustainable result-based

M&E system for tracking progress and demonstrated results

of the projects or programs to ensure evidence-based

decision making. Monitoring plays a vital role during

program inception whereas evaluation comes during

program execution and conclusion. Key principles and

criteria for monitoring are credibility, utility, impartiality,

transparency, disclosure and participation. Whereas, key

principles for evaluation criteria are relevance,

effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability. Mr. Alam

gave thrust on baseline information system and clearly defined key performance indicator

data which help in comparing achievements of the project. He also suggested making

standard format for data collection, data entry, definition of activities or particulars to be used

in the project activities, data analysis tool for all the IAs so that monitoring and evaluation

system can work effectively with unambiguous information. Information validation system

must be an intrinsic part of internal M&E system for the IAs.

The M&E session was continued by Dr. Tamal Sarkar, Executive Director, FMC. He said

that monitoring is a regular phenomenon and it checks the process whereas evaluation

basically checks flow of inputs and sees the outputs.

Evaluation does impact assessment of the project.

Project should have a controlled group for doing proper

impact assessment. He opined that monitoring can start

easily with breakup of activities into sub activities written

in the action plan and the output is written against each

sub activity. Formal monitoring needs to be done bi-

monthly by organizing official meetings, arranging

presentation, notes and taking minutes of the decision taken in the meeting.

Presentation of Social Analysis & Resource Mapping findings and Business Plans by

IAs

Afghanistan: Mr. Mahboob Rahman Arifi, Project Manager presented the project status. In

Afghanistan, two areas named Kandahar and Nangarhar

are identified for implementation of the SDF project. The

IA has identified two products to be made from bamboo

viz. toothpick and ice cream stick as a substitute to wood.

Both the products will be made at the CFC. The IA has

made awareness program in rural areas and sensitized

nearly 1000 villagers. SDF advised them to detail the

information related to market demand, machinery to be

installed in the CFC, quotation for machineries and to prepare a sustainable business plan.

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Bangladesh: Mr. Qudrat-E-Khuda Md. Naser, Team Leader from Bangladesh Rural

Improvement Foundation (IA for Bangladesh) in his

presentation, informed that total 1000 beneficiaries have

been identified, baseline data has been collected,

situational analysis and resource mapping is ongoing. Total

15 master trainers have been identified product wise and

70 different types of products have been selected and

prototype design is ongoing. They were suggested to

revisit the number of 70 products and have a more targeted

approach with limited and doable number of product lines. The SDF official told them to

prepare sustainable revenue model for maximum utilization of CFC and finalize it at the

earliest.

Bhutan: Ms. Roseleen Gurung, Project Manager from Tarayana Foundation (IA for Bhutan)

mentioned that total 6 blocks in Mongar and Zhemgang districts have been identified for

project intervention. Due to import substitutes in neighbouring

countries, bamboo weaving for household items and daily

utility items in Bhutan is declining. Bamboo weaving is labour

and time intensive thus reducing the price competitiveness in

market. There is a lot of construction going on in Bhutan.

Thus, the IA has planned to use bamboo products for housing

and construction along with handicraft items. Baseline data

and situational analysis have been completed and activities

identified as skill development, new innovative design in

handicraft items, technology for making bamboo housing product, marketing linkages etc.

SDF official suggested exploring government regulation formalities before starting the CFC

construction activity as working with bamboo at large scale needs permission from the

Bhutan Government. Import of bamboo from India can be considered in case of large scale

requirement of bamboo for construction sector.

Nepal: Mr. Nripal Adhikary from ABARI (IA for Nepal) outlined ABARI’s work experience in

bamboo sector since the last ten years. They have identified 500 entrepreneurs in Chitwan

and Jhapa districts for SDF project. ABARI has created system

of bamboo nursery, community forest, pre-processing centre

and CFC for processing centre. Under SDF project, they want

to invest in bamboo products viz. furniture, pre-fabricated

bamboo house, building construction material. Instead of

entering engineered wood industry like China with high end

machine, the IA plans to rather work with available bamboo in

Nepal and innovate small machines (slicing, straightening, knot

cutting) for making pre-fabricated green houses, bamboo tents,

bamboo cycles etc. Mr. Adhikary requested help from other partner countries for arranging

contacts of machine manufacturers. SDF official also requested Mr. Adhikary to help other

partner countries to develop the mobile applicationto capture the baseline information from

farmers & enterpreneurs.

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India: Ms. Sangeeta Agasty, Project Manager, FMC (IA for India) delivered presentation on

India’s project status and mentioned that detailed baseline of 1000 artisans & SARM have

been conducted and draft business plan of both the CFCs

in two cluster locations have been prepared. She stated

that basic idea of the project implementation in India is

local level value addition in bamboo products, working with

community, creation of local level employment, etc.

Collaboration with technical institutions, design consultants

and other experts shall be done. Capacity of local

craftsmen will be developed by providing need-based

training on using new technology, linking with markets etc.

Emphasis will be laid on developing durable and high-quality bamboo products. Ready to

use machinery needs to be explored as bamboo pre-processing takes 70% of the working

time for a bamboo artisan. In this project, primary processors will be linked with secondary

processors through vertical integrations.. Special purpose vehicles as SEs will be promoted

for owning and running the CFCs in both the locations . Discussion was held on the transfer

of the ownership of the CFC after the project. Ms. Pem, Assistant Director, SDF mentioned

that according to their guidelines, the ownership of machines procured under the project will

go to the state government if the SPVs do not function after the project timeline and further

stated that they will sit separately with each IA to address this.

At the end of the presentations, Mr. Anuj Goel, Director, Social Window, Admin & Finance

thanked all the IAs He advised the IAs to make their presentations more objective by

inserting concrete figures and highlight challenges faced during implementation. He asked

IAs to have separate bank account for the project for

disbursement of govt fund into the assigned bank

account, and IAs should have dedicated team for this

project who are non-transferable during the

implementation period. He informed about SDF

procurement norms. Mr. Goel mentioned that ownership

of all assets lies with the Govt as SDF is a multilateral

organization. He requested FMC to take a greater

coordinating role to ensure timely implementation of the

project, standardization of reports and documents, project management oversight by setting

up a mechanism for regular monitoring and evaluation, devise a common data repository for

machine manufacturers, technical experts, design consultants, etc. Mr. Goel emphasized

that advocacy is another area where FMC can lead in formulation of a collective document

having different laws in bamboo and related sectors in SAARC countries.

Mr. Mukesh Gulati gave vote of thanks at the end of the programme. He encapsulated the

programme in the following remarks:

1. The responsibility of working on the substantial inputs received will be allocated to

different partners/ agencies with a timeline.

2. Regular monitoring could be done over video conference call with IAs and TA.

Reports need to be compiled from all IAs with proper facts & figure, and photograph.

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3. The product selection, SE model and activities in respective countries need to be

revisited by IAs with support ofTA. FMC will also help soft knowledge integration,

sharing of knowledge between IAs.

4. FMC is also implementing EU-Switch Asia bamboo project in India. Thus, common

information sharing from both projects can be explored to add joint value and benefit

both the projects.

Technical Sessions (6th July 2018, Delhi)

On the final day of the training program, the initial 15 minutes were spent recapitulating the

learnings of last two days, which was moderated by Ms Sangeeta Agasty.

Ms. Neelam Manjunath, Managing Trustee, Centre for Green Building Material &

Technology took the first technical session of the day on

‘Bamboo Housing & construction Materials’. Ms.

Manjunath is an architect working in bamboo sector for

last 20 years. She lauded the physical properties

(density, splitting, thermal conductivity, and hardness,

tensile strength, and energy balance) of bamboo for

utilisation in the housing and construction material,

calling it as vegetable steel. She showed different

structures, houses, pavilions, bridges made with bamboo

in India and outside. Ms. Manjunath mentioned that a

mature bamboo with proper treatment can be used to make durable bamboo houses which

last for more than 100 years.

Ms. Rebecca Reubens, owner of Rhizome, a bamboo

designer furniture making enterprise spoke about

‘sustainable production designs’. She elaborated the

concept and types of sustainable designs using bamboo

as the main raw material. Ms. Reubens emphasized that

to change the mindset of people about bamboo as a

poor man’s timber; bamboo products should have

innovative design which adds value to the product.

Bamboo also could be used with other material such as

cotton, jute, metal, stone, etc to make value added product which can be give sustainable

income to the community.

Mr. Sandeep Theng, Director, Indian Federation of

Green Energy took session on ‘bamboo furniture, lifestyle

and craft products’. He specified the technical details and

market opportunities. He gave an outline of Indian

Federation of Green Energy (IFGE) contribution to the

bamboo sector. IFGE has a special sectoral committee

on Bamboo to further push the policy initiatives which

can help the sector to grow. Mr. Theng told that the

growth of the market in the South Asian region is largely

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supplemented due to increasing disposable income, improved lifestyle, increase in GDP and

ongoing developments in the real estate sector in the region. He suggested SAARC member

countries to explore furniture industry along modern lines enabling the furniture luxury

market to reach a colossal figure of $5.4 billion by 2020.

Dr. N. Barathi, Director of Growmore Biotech Ltd and energy plantation consultant took

technical session on ‘bamboo plantation, management techniques, and methods for better

harvesting, grading, seasoning, and treatment process’. Dr. Barathi told that 200 acres of

bamboo or 8000 tons of bamboo biomass can run one mega watt power plant. He specified

that wild bamboo yields 0.5ton/ acre, bamboo cultivation yields 4-8ton/ acre and precision

farming yields 40tons/ acre. Beema Bamboo is one of the extensively cultivated bamboos

with very thick wall, highly suitable for biomass production for intensive cultivation. Bamboo

is the best solution for global warming. One acre of Beema bamboo gives 50tons bio-mass

per year, 61 tons of oxygen per year, and consumes 84 tons of carbon di oxide per year.

Mr.Nripal Adhikari, Director, ABARI from Nepal took last session on ‘Engineered Bamboo

and its application’. He showed different bamboo housing and construction projects

undertaken by ABARI in last 10 years. He presented various bamboo joint structures used in

those constructions. Also, he discussed potential bamboo applications, treatment of bamboo

from termite, bamboo plantation in Nepal etc.

Dr. Tamal Sarkar asked the participants to share their feedbacks and learning. The feedback

forms were also distributed to them.

The five days event was concluded with distribution of certificates to all the participants by

Dr. Tamal Sarkar, Executive Director, FMC.

Page | 15

ANNEXURE 1

List of Trainees

Country Name of Delegate Project Position

Afghanistan Mahboob Rahman Arifi Project Coordinator

Mohammad Shoaib Durani Provincial Project Manager in Nangarhar

Nesar Ahmad Provincial Project Manager in Kandahar

Shakibullah Raufi Admin & Finance Officer

Bangladesh Qudrat-E-Khoda Md. Naser Team Leader

Md. Robiul Islam Cluster Development Manager

Shah Ahsan Habib Network Development Manager

Bhutan Roseleen Gurung Project Manager

Passang Tobgay Network Development Manager,

Monggar

Karma Dendup Network Development Manager,

Zhemgang

Tandin Wangchuk Project Finance Officer

Nepal Nripal Adhikari Director

Subash Karki Project Coordinator

Krishna Arjun Baniya Representative from Govt. Counterpart

India Sangeeta Agasty Project Manager

Anijit Bhattacharya Project Support

Ruchita Sanwal Project Support

Annie Sneha Herenz CFC Facilitating Partner -Dumka

P. Umesh CFC Facilitating Partner -Dumka

Satabdi Pratikshya Cluster Development Manager-Dumka

Raymond Lyngdoh CFC Facilitating Partner- Ri bhoi

Ratna Deep Kalita Cluster Development Manager-Ri bhoi

Anupriya Khare Project Associate, CEMCA

Rajeev Sharma Project Support

Page | 16

ANNEXURE- II

Agenda for 5 Day Bamboo Cluster Development Event

TIME (Hrs) TOPIC ISSUES TO BE COVERED TRAINING MATERIAL Trainer/ Facilitator

Day One-Two (2nd & 3rd July 2018) Field Visit at Kudal, Maharashtra

09.30-17.30 on both the days

Field Visit to Sindhudurg & Kudal in Maharashtra

Field visit to Sindhudurg/Kudal Bamboo cluster to meet the experts of Konbac, see the Common Facility Centre, Bamboo Plantation, interact with artisans and MSMEs, Business Development Service Providers (BDSPs) and other key stakeholders

Technical Expert : Mr. Sanjeev Karpe, Konbac

Ms. Ruchita Sanwal

Ms. Satabdi Pratikshya

Mr. Anijit Bhattacharya

Mr.Ratnadeep Kalita

Day-Three (4th July 2018) Classroom training || Venue: Einstein Hall, Ground Floor, USO House, USO Road, Off Shaheed Jeet Singh Marg, Delhi-110067

09.15 - 09.45 Introduction • Welcome address

• Setting the tone of the programme

• Introduction by participants & expected objectives

Mr. Mukesh Gulati, Advisor, FMC

09. 45 -10.45 Introduction to cluster development concept and the Bamboo Project

• Definition of cluster

• Types of clusters with examples

• Stakeholders in the cluster (Core enterprises/ artisans, support enterprises/ institutions, BDSPs, BMOs, etc.)

• Inter-linkages among stakeholders

• Working of the cluster system & cluster development approach

• PPT

• Session note

Mr. Mukesh Gulati, Advisor, FMC

10.45 –11.15 A small movie on cluster development programme followed by discussion

• Cluster development approach with examples

• Video

Mr. Mukesh Gulati

11.15 - 11.45 Tea/ Coffee break

11.45 –13.00 Global presence of clusters & best practices

• Global presence of clusters and their challenges

• Examples of successful clusters

• Introduction to the Bamboo Project Design & and the relevance of cluster development concept therein

• PPT

• Session note with case studies

Mr. Mukesh Gulati

13.00 –14.00 Lunch Break

14.00 - 15.30 Situational Analysis and

• Understand the critical compositions of SARM

• PPT

• Session Note Ms. Sangeeta Agasty,

Page | 17

Mapping of Resources (SARM) in Cluster

especially with respect to capturing vital information, product/ service identification, stakeholder analysis, value chain analysis and analysis of business operations to understand pressure point of the clusters

• Participatory Assessment Tools for social & resource mapping

• Structure of the SARM

• Sample SARM report

• Sample questionnaire & participatory tools for data collection

FMC

15.30 –16.00 Tea/ Coffee break

16.00 – 17.30

Business Plan • Introduction to the concept and methodology of Business Plan

• Financial projections & analysis

• PPT

• Session Note Mr. ASK Sharma, FMC

Day Fourth (5th July 2018) || Venue: Jaypee Vasant continental, Vasant Vihar, New Delhi-110057

Policy & Institutional Networking Event on Bamboo Enterprise Development Potential in SAARC Region

9.15 – 9:30 Registration

09.30- 09.40 Welcome Address by Mr. Arun Maira, Chairman, Foundation for MSME Clusters

09.40- 09.50 Address by Ms. Sarojini Kaul, EU Delegation to India

09.50- 10.00 Address by Dr. Rene Van Berkel, UNIDO Representative, Regional Office India

10.00- 10.15 Address by Dr. Alka Bhargava, Joint Secretary, National Agroforestry & Bamboo Mission, New Delhi

10:15–10:25 Address by Mr. D N Magar, Chief General Manager, OFFD, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural

Development (NABARD)

10:25- 10:35 Address by Mr. Sanjay Goyal, Chief General Manager, Small Industries Development Bank of India

10:35–10:45 Theme Address by Dr. Sunil Motiwal, Chief Executive Officer, SAARC Development Fund (SDF), Thimpu

10:45–11.00 Inaugural Address by Mr. Ram Mohan Mishra, Additional Secretary and Development Commissioner,

Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises, Government of India

11:00–11:10 Vote of thanks by Dr. Tamal Sarkar, Executive Director, Foundation for MSME Clusters

11.10 - 11.30 Tea/ Coffee Break

11.30-12.15 Scope of Bamboo based enterprises in SAARC Countries

• Types of Bamboo Applications and related enterprises in SAARC Region

• Scope of cross boarder market development

• PPT Dr. B. N. Mohanty

Director, IPIRTI

12.15 -13.00 Social Enterprise (SE) Models to address cluster problems & challenges

• Different types of SEs and their legal forms to undertake joint activities including managing Common Facility Centers (CFCs)

• PPT Mr. Mukesh Gulati, Executive Trustee & Advisor, FMC

13.00 - 15.00 Lunch & Networking Meeting with SAARC Delegates

15.00 – 15.45

Monitory & Evaluation (M&E) of Cluster Work Progress

• M&E Methodology & tools

• Process of self & participatory evaluation/ social audit

• Baseline format

• M&E formats Dr Tamal Sarkar, Executive Director, FMC

Page | 18

15.45 –18.15 (PPT 20 mins and discussion 10 mins by each IA)

Presentations of Social Analysis & Resource Mapping (SARM) findings and Business Plans by IAs

• Presentation by IA Afghanistan

• Presentation by IA Bangladesh

• Presentation by IA Bhutan

• Presentation by IA Nepal

• Presentation by IA India

• PPTs Moderated by SDF & FMC

18.15 –18.30 Concluding Observations by Dr. Sunil Motiwal

Day Fifth (6th July) || Venue: Einstein Hall, Ground Floor, USO House, USO Road, Off Shaheed Jeet Singh Marg, Delhi-110067

09.15 – 09.30

Recapitulation of day two learning

Ms. Sangeeta Agasty

09.30-10.30 Technical Session on Bamboo Housing & Construction Materials

• Introduction to the market of bamboo housing & construction material and applicable standards

• Technical and non-technical aspects and sources of services

• PPT, Video & demonstration

Ms. Neelam Manjunath, Centre for Green Building Material & Technology

10.30-11.30 Technical Session Sustainable Product Design

• Introduction to the concept and types of sustainable designs

• Market opportunities and service sourcing points

• PPT Rebecca Reubens, Rhizome

11.30 - 11.45 Tea/ Coffee Break

11.45 -13.00 Technical Session on Bamboo Furniture, Lifestyle & Craft products

• Introduction to the bamboo furniture types with technical details and market opportunities

• Technical and non-technical aspects and sources of services

• PPT, Video & demonstration

Mr. Sandeep Theng, IFGE

13.00 - 14.00 Lunch Break

14-00 –15.30 Technical Session on Bamboo Plantation & Pre-processing technology for Bamboo products

• Introduction to types of bamboo; bamboo plantation & management techniques, methods of better harvesting, grading, seasoning & treatment processes

• PPT Dr. N Barathi, Director, Growmore Biotech Ltd

15.30 –15.45 Tea/ Coffee Break

15.45- 16.45 Technical Session on Engineered Bamboo & Applications

• Introduction to the concept of Engineered Bamboo and potential applications viz-furniture, boards, flooring materials, etc.

• PPT

• Session Note Mr. Nripal Adhikary, ABARI

16.45 – 17.15

Concluding remark & Way forward

Dr. Tamal Sarkar &

Ms. Sangeeta Agasty

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ANNEXURE-III

List of Participants for Policy & Institutional Networking Event (5th July 2018)

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