Partner Organization Profile

December 2002 saw the birth of a not-for-profit organization - the Centre for Indian Bamboo Resource and Technology, or CIBART - set up in India for the purpose of bamboo based sustainable development in rural areas, but that would also addresses rattan for development where relevant to local livelihoods.

CIBART has its origins in the realization that an organization within India would perhaps be better able to access and channel the considerable experience of bamboo development outside India than an international organisation, thereby promoting the realization of the huge potential that bamboo and rattan development hold for the country. It is also in recognition that given the multiple facets of bamboo, the many commodities it represents, and the range of products and applications ranging from the very low tech to high tech, a technical sound but locally networked organization is needed in India. Facilitated by INBAR and based in New Delhi, CIBART shares office space with the INBAR South Asia regional office. CIBART comprises professionals from diverse disciplines with one common goal: sustainable bamboo and rattan-based socioeconomic development.

CIBART works by building institutional systems, networks and forging partnerships and has been visualized as a common shared platform for all organizations interested in working with bamboo. CIBART's approach is community-focussed, builds on traditional knowledge and skills bases and is market driven.

The INBAR-CIBART partnership launched a new strategic approach that could tap into INBAR's vast international linkages and resources on one hand, and easily reach out to the beneficiary communities on the other. This ensures that global developments in the bamboo and rattan sector reach those who stand to benefit after suitable adaptation, if necessary.

CIBART has helped set up daughter organizations like Tamenglong Bamboo and Cane Development Centre (TAMBAC) and Tripura Bamboo and Cane Development Centre (TRIPURA) in the states of Manipur and Tripura respectively as independent bodies.

These independent organizations further facilitate backward and forward linkages so that all the benefits of technology reach the community, right at their doorstep. These organizations are also linked with INBAR. For instance through INBAR's network, process flow has been taught to the community in Himachal Pradesh and Tripura. The designer from INBAR's GTZ-collaborated project in Himachal Pradesh has introduced the concept of value addition and process flow to the Tamenglong artisan community. Artisans from far-flung villages will be able to access global markets through INBAR's recently launched global marketing project. In Orissa a policy workshop was jointly conducted to identify policy issues that needed to be addressed to promote development.

INBAR and CIBART have jointly published the Bamboo Preservation Compendium, authored by Walter Liese and Satish Kumar and furniture manual Hands-on, Training Manual on Chinese Style Bamboo Furniture, based on the 'International Training Workshop on Furniture Processing Technologies' by INBAR, Ministry of Science and Technology, China (MOST), Deutsche Gesellschaft Fur Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) and International Farm Forestry Training Centre, Chinese Academy of Forestry. The manual has also been published in Hindi with support from the Uttaranchal government.

CIBART is in the unique position of having extended networks at both ends and forms the conduit through which knowledge and skills will flow from all over the world to communities that need it. In return, these communities will produce products that pass back through the same networks and gain access to INBAR's global community. Likewise, INBAR has benefited from having a technically sound partner that works closely with it in the fulfillment of common goals. Information gathered and documentation is fully shared between both organizations.

The scope of working together is unlimited. CIBART hopes to ground the international knowledge and experience of INBAR in the Indian context. The partnership has helped accelerate the benefits of bamboo and rattan for the rural communities in India. It has helped CIBART grow rapidly as a bamboo player. More recently, the INBAR-CIBART partnership has resulted in an international policy workshop on bamboo in fisheries being organized, which will take place at the end of September 2004, and also in the first distance learning programme on bamboo in partnership with the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) and the Commonwealth of Learning IGNOU's courses are available in 26 countries with over one million students.

The INBAR-CIBART experience could be a model of development that could be set up in other countries. This partnership offers a new meaning altogether to the term 'globalization,' offering an opportunity for optimizing and sharing resources and accessing markets.