Women across Nepal are transforming handicraft from household work to thriving businesses

Once confined to homes and treated as unpaid labour, handicraft work is now helping women earn income and build businesses.

In 2003, when Shyam Badan Shrestha bought a basket from a woman for Rs600, she learned it had taken the woman 10 days to weave it. “How can you earn a profit if it takes you 10 days and the price is Rs600?” Shrestha had asked.