Stitching a future: How Nagaland's Chizami Weaves is helping women earn a living

Outside the bursting cities of Kohima and Dimapur, Nagaland offers few job opportunities. Sources of employment are even fewer for women who mostly rely on farming to sustain their households.

Started in 2008, Chizami Weaves is a livelihood project that aims to give women in Nagaland a sustainable means of employment. It taps into women’s skills in operating the portable loin loom present in every house, which they earlier used to only weave for their family.

“Every household has weavers and they learn the skills from their mothers and elders,” Atshole Thopi, Project Coordinator at Chizami Weaves, tells HerStory.

Today, Chizami Weaves has a network of over 600 women weavers from different parts of Nagaland who make cushion covers, bags, traditional shawls, mekhla (wrap skirt) etc in contemporary and tribal Naga designs.

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Sustainable livelihoods

Chizami Weaves is an initiative of NENterprise—a separate entity registered as a Trust by NGO North East Network (NEN).

NEN was started in 1995 as a women's rights organisation focused on issues of development, social and gender justice, and environmental justice in Northeast India. It entered Nagaland three years later and opened a community health centre in Chizami village in Phek district. It also works in the areas of gender-based discrimination, governance, and natural resource management.

The need to provide women with sustainable livelihoods led to the birth of Chizami Weaves. The project, which got an initial funding of Rs 5 lakh in 2010, is supported by aid from Global Fund for Women, Ford Foundation supported under NEN, and the Nagaland government’s women development department.

Chizami Weaves started with seven weavers from Chizami village who were trained by expert weavers to weave commercially. The designs were initially made by students from the National Institute of Design.

However, the women weavers—who mostly belong to the Chakhesang tribe—found it odd initially to weave clothes outside of their tribal colours and designs.

“In the beginning, women were only used to black, white, red, green and some yellow—which were their tribal colours. Some women made fun of and laughed at the colourful designs of cushions that we were developing, but there was no hesitation,” tells Atshole, who joined NEN in 2005 and has been managing the weaving project.

Around 60% of women weavers are regular and earn anywhere between Rs 5,000-Rs 6,000 per month. The initiative only makes use of handlooms to provide livelihoods to many, and pays weavers even if they produce reject pieces.

“We need to provide a livelihood to every woman, but not all women are experts in weaving and take time to produce quality products. So, we often get reject pieces from younger women but we cannot refuse them work,” she adds.

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This Naga woman’s weaving unit is a source of livelihood for women who spin, weave, and warp

Decentralised operation

For many women, personal engagement and community activities take precedence. Chizami Weaves enables them to weave from their homes and bring the products to its centre in Chizami village for final stitching and assembly.

However, the model also comes with its own challenges. As many weavers reside across 17-18 villages in Phek district, as well as in Kohima and Shamator district, the six-member team finds it difficult to manage quality control.

The team also faces logistical challenges in sourcing the raw material from Delhi, Dimapur, or Kohima as transportation costs are high and delivery is often delayed.

“Sometimes we run out of yarn and we cannot buy it immediately from Kohima or Dimapur. We have to order from outside as per the colours needed, which delays orders given to weavers,” Atshole says.

The products—which can take anywhere from three days (to make cushion covers) to up to 15 days (for a mekhla)—are sold through both online and offline channels. The team takes orders on Instagram, WhatsApp, and through phone calls. It also sells to local markets and has a store in Kohima.

The project records an annual turnover of Rs 50 lakh.

The impact

For Atshole, who joined NEN right after high school, seeing women earning a regular income to support their families and children’s education motivates her to keep the project running despite challenges.

Tshekhrolou, a weaver in Chizami village, says, “My husband initially disapproved of my weaving but with the cash that I started bringing home, his respect for me grew and he now helps me in all household work.”

But Chizami Weaves is more than just a livelihood opportunity; it also offers a sense of community.

“Many women have personal problems and sour relationships with their families. We are able to encourage them and motivate them whenever they are facing challenges in life—whether at home or in society,” she adds.

Women are also able to build their confidence through training and learning opportunities from expert weavers, community programmes, and exhibitions.

“Women also come out of their homes and learn from each other. They slowly open up to share their thoughts, learn their rights, and speak up for themselves in their families,” Atshole tells.

With modern education, many parents wouldn’t encourage their children to learn traditional weaving, but Chizami Weaves is keeping those skills and knowledge alive. Now, many girls and even young married women have started learning to weave.

Chizami Weaves is now focusing on setting up a proper organisational structure, building an online marketplace, expanding market lines, and making organic traditional cotton products.

(The story was updated with information about NEN.)