Revitalising the silk industry
What
Supporting women's groups and promoting income-generating activities through the revitalisation of the silk industry in Madagascar. Training is provided on all stages of silk production, from planting mulberry trees and tapia forest conservation to raising silkworms, spinning, weaving and commercialisation.
Why
The growing market for silk products has encouraged producers in Madagascar to improve their techniques to develop this as an income-generating activity in the fight against poverty. Silk production was traditional to Madagascar but, for many reasons, it greatly decreased towards the end of the 20 th century. Wild silkworms disappeared from many of the endemic tapia forests, which are also threatened from habitat destruction.
Results
Initial experiments proved the feasibility of reforesting the tapia forest and re-introducing the wild silkworm to them, and this has motivated local communities to work with Ny Tanintsika to improve silk production. Women's groups have already seen substantial increases in income since the project started.
Reuters article about silk in Madagascar (with video) 14-jul-2007
More information about the Ny Tanintsika's silk programme