Jahanara Cottage Industries

Jahanara Cottage Industries  is a rural-based handicraft organization, established to help poor village men and women develop skills to support themselves. Jahanara assists local artisans by marketing their products in Bangladesh and abroad. Jahanara offers 45-day training programs in handicraft production and adult education to village women and men. The organization provides fair wages and encourages self-help and mutual aid, with the motto “Dignity through Labor.”

Jahanara is one of the oldest handicraft organizations in Bangladesh. Jahanara Begum, a Bengali woman, began training women and selling their crafts in 1954. Members of her family still direct Jahanara, together with trainees who have become skilled artisans. In a region where Islamic tradition secludes most women at home, the organization allows them to be employed wage earners in cottage industry. Jahanara has been a member of the International Fair Trade Association since 1990.

Ten Thousand Villages purchases bamboo, jute and rattan baskets, cane stools and flutes from Jahanara Cottage Industries. Ten Thousand Villages has purchased products from Jahanara since 1985.