Due to international funding cuts, Myanmar (Kayin) refugees/ IDPs are living in extreme situation in the camps. Covid-19 associated reduction in job opportunities in Myanmar makes their future return plan uncertain. Luckily, Kayin State has countless Areca palm trees. If we can set a disposable Areca leaf plate factory, we can employ more than 100 refugee/ IDP families. With the profit from this factory, we can build houses for returnees and implement more income generation for refugees/ IDPs.
Nearly 100,000 Myanmar refugees, mostly ethnic minorities Karen, are living in refugee camps in Thailand and hundreds of thousand Internally displaced person (IDPs) are living in the Eastern Myanmar without having a place to call home and job to make a living. Due to international funding cuts, they are living in dire situation in the camps. Covid-19 related reduction in job opportunities crushes their dreams of returning back to Myanmar. However, Kayin states have countless Area Palm trees.
Areca palm leaves can use to manufacture biodegradable disposable utensils to replace currently using single use plastic disposable products, which USA and Canada governments are banning. Disposable single use plastic and Styrofoam are harmful not only to human health but also for environment. If we can start up Areca leaf plate factory, we can provide direct employment opportunity for more than 70 refugee families in the line of production and 50 IDPs families for collection of raw material.
We will export our products into North America and distribute through Amazon and Walmart. One leaf cost 2 cents to buy locally and from which we can make two plates. Each disposable plate worth nearly 1 USD in North America market. From leaf waste to exotic products, this is highly lucrative business. We will have enough funding to build houses for returnee and implement more and more income generation programs for refugees/IDPs. As such, we can gradually mitigate refugee/IDPs issues in Myanmar.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
