PICS: SURESH RAJ NEUPANE

Bedami Devi of Bara almost lost all of her land to a loan of Rs 90,000 she had taken to pay her husband's medical bills. But she is paying off her loans as a transformed businesswoman by selling bamboo sticks, used to make stick incense. "I have been taking care of my household expenses and will pay off all my loans by the end of the year," says Bedami.

In Birganj, Lalpari Devi makes stick incense and sells them to a wholesaler at the rate of Rs 18 per kilogram. The mother of two daughters and five sons, Lalpari's earnings have remained constant for the last three years but together with her husband, she has been able to send her children to school, and is now even contemplating building a house with bank loans.

A decade ago, the villages of Parsa district were ranked lower than Humla and Jumla on the Human Development Index. But the trend of adopting micro-businesses has transformed these villages. More than 5,000 individuals have found employment in small enterprises. Neighbouring Bara, Rautahat and Sarlahi are also following suit.

More than 50 Muslim women of Murali village in Birganj have been economically empowered by the incense business. They are no longer dependent on their husband's incomes. Because the women of the village are more financially independent, other aspects of village life have improved. The number of students in the village school has risen and the village has become cleaner.

The fishing communities in Marwaliya and Nakatowa have also taken up the incense-making business. More than 150 locals from 25 houses are involved in the trade. Paramshila Devi can make about 35kg of incense a day, worth Rs 500. "We can earn up to Rs 200 through day labour but here we can earn Rs 500-600 a day just by working from home," says Raghu Nath Mukhiya, whose family also makes stick incense.

The Informal Sector Enterprise Development and Employment Generation Programme (ELAM), implemented by Helvetas Nepal five years ago, has helped revive the incense business in Birganj. Chandrakant Adhikari of Helvetas says that they saw positive results early because women, Dalits and marginalised communities took the initiative to make bamboo sticks and incense and manage the market for themselves. Incense industrialist Rabi Giri says, "Earlier, we imported the raw materials from Assam, now 90 per cent is available here. Birganj has become like Bangalore in terms of incense manufacturing." This industry has also proved a boon for bamboo farmers. Bamboo poles now cost Rs 120-150, up from Rs 40-50 a few years back.

Puja, Narayani, Shalimar, and Rose are some of the better known incense brands. Narayani alone is worth yearly transactions worth Rs 40 million. Export figures show that Nepali incense finds a good market in China, India and other countries. In the last fiscal year Rs 94.5 million worth of incense was exported. "If the government encourages us and protects our industry we will be able to do even better, " says Giri.

with Bhusan Yadav, Nepalganj

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