A case study of the Handloom Export Zone in Nagercoil, India

Beyond implementing a pilot project in Nagapattinam, ESCAP has documented a second example of a post-tsunami reconstruction project that created a partnership between private companies and communities.

The weaver’s cooperatives in Nagercoil (Tamil Nadu, India) produced only low-quality materials for the local market, and consequently received low wages. At the same time, exporters were facing supply constraints to serve the demand of Indian handloom products from export markets. This project introduced some simple technical improvements, trained 250 weavers and established links between the cooperatives and the exporters, increasing earnings for the weavers and ensuring the supply for the exporters. The project was fully funded by the donor, but given the returns for both producers and exporters, this case study concludes that a commercial replication could be viable.

This case study was documented by Ms. Santha K. Erinjiyal, consultant for ESCAP under the project “Building community resilience to disasters through partnerships”. The views expressed in this paper are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations Secretariat.