About Us
Tanana® Silk is an online market organized to support SEPALI Madagascar. SEPALIM is a non-governmental organization (NGO) focused on conservation-based livelihood development. SEPALIM works closely with farmers to identify, develop, and implement new ways of income generation. Our mission is to protect areas of high conservation value by linking the economic livelihoods of poor rural farmers to environmental preservation.
To do this, SEPALI has identified multiple species of native silk moths that produce commercially viable silks, and we have designed techniques for intercropping the moth's endemic host plants in border forests and abandoned pastures. Farmers who plant 200 trees with which to rear larvae can increase their average income by 30% after two years. When other family members participate in product finishing, income gains increase between 40-60%.
We are currently working with farmers and communities who have been economically displaced from the Makira protected area in northeastern Madagascar. Our approach conserves habitat while at the same time providing a vital source of income for the local community.
This project is the first empirical test of the ability of small-scale enterprises to contribute both to environmental goals and to poverty alleviation.
To do this, SEPALI has identified multiple species of native silk moths that produce commercially viable silks, and we have designed techniques for intercropping the moth's endemic host plants in border forests and abandoned pastures. Farmers who plant 200 trees with which to rear larvae can increase their average income by 30% after two years. When other family members participate in product finishing, income gains increase between 40-60%.
We are currently working with farmers and communities who have been economically displaced from the Makira protected area in northeastern Madagascar. Our approach conserves habitat while at the same time providing a vital source of income for the local community.
This project is the first empirical test of the ability of small-scale enterprises to contribute both to environmental goals and to poverty alleviation.
"Things that had no use to us before now have meaning. SEPALI has blossomed in this community."
- Trozona
Product photographs by Melissa McFadden
