From handmade diyas and religious idols to office folders and rakhis, Lipi Bhowmik is transforming a locally available resource into an entrepreneurial opportunity while creating livelihood avenues for women in her village.
In Khowai, Tripura, rural entrepreneur Lipi Bhowmik is giving cow dung a new purpose by turning it into a range of handmade products. A member of the Loknath Self-Help Group, she makes office folders, file covers, religious idols, diyas and rakhis using cow dung as a primary raw material. With financial assistance and a loan of ₹5.10 lakh through the Tripura Rural Livelihoods Mission, she expanded her entrepreneurial activities beyond her initial product line. Alongside her craft enterprise, she has ventured into natural farming, tailoring and candle-making. Her work also creates employment opportunities for women in her village.
Turning A Traditional Resource Into Handmade Products
Cow dung has traditionally been used in rural India for purposes such as agriculture and household activities. Lipi Bhowmik, however, identified an opportunity to use this readily available resource to make products with practical and decorative value.
Through her work, she has developed a range of items, including office folders, file covers, religious idols, diyas and rakhis. By exploring different ways to work with cow dung, she has moved beyond its conventional uses and incorporated it into handmade products that can serve everyday, festive and decorative purposes.
Her initiative reflects how rural entrepreneurship can emerge from resources available within a community. Instead of depending entirely on expensive raw materials, she has built her product range around a locally accessible resource and the skills involved in processing and shaping it.
As a member of the Loknath Self-Help Group, Lipi’s journey also highlights the role that collective platforms can play in supporting women who want to explore income-generating activities. Self-help groups can provide a space for women to share ideas, develop skills and access opportunities to strengthen their livelihoods.
Financial Assistance Helps Expand Her Enterprise
As her entrepreneurial activities developed, financial support became an important part of her journey. With assistance and a loan of ₹5.10 lakh through the Tripura Rural Livelihoods Mission, Lipi was able to expand her work and explore additional ventures.
The support helped her move beyond a single product category and diversify her livelihood activities. In addition to making cow-dung-based crafts, she has taken up natural farming, tailoring and candle-making.
This diversification is significant for rural households, where depending on a single source of income can make livelihoods vulnerable to seasonal changes and fluctuations in demand. By exploring multiple activities, entrepreneurs can create different avenues for earning and make better use of their skills and available resources.
Her work also extends beyond her individual enterprise. The activities create employment opportunities for other women in her village, allowing them to participate in production and livelihood generation. Such community-based initiatives can help women gain access to economic opportunities while strengthening local networks.
Lipi has also been recognised as a Lakhpati Didi and Krishi Sakhi Didi. These identities reflect her involvement in both entrepreneurship and agriculture-related livelihood activities. Her journey brings together craft production, farming and skill-based work, demonstrating how rural women can participate in different areas of economic activity.
The Logical Indian’s Perspective
Lipi Bhowmik’s journey from identifying a use for a locally available resource to developing multiple livelihood activities offers an example of grassroots entrepreneurship. Her work demonstrates that innovation does not always require sophisticated technology or large-scale infrastructure. Sometimes, it begins with recognising the potential of something that is already part of everyday rural life.
Her cow-dung-based products also draw attention to the possibilities of resource utilisation and handmade production. By creating decorative and functional items, she has explored a different way of using a traditional material while building an enterprise around it.
Equally important is the role of women’s participation. Through her association with a self-help group and the employment opportunities generated by her activities, Lipi’s enterprise has the potential to benefit other women in her community.
However, sustaining such enterprises requires more than initial financial assistance. Continued access to training, product development, quality improvement, markets and reliable buyers can help rural entrepreneurs expand their reach and maintain their businesses.
Lipi’s experience highlights the importance of supporting women-led enterprises with both financial and institutional assistance. Her journey from cow dung-based crafts to multiple livelihood activities shows how local resources, individual initiative and community participation can come together to create economic opportunities in rural India.
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