Poor marketing strategies hit Udayagiri wood cutlery

Nellore: Exquisite and excellent craft Udayagiri wooden cutlery has failed to attract consumers due to poor marketing strategies and post-production sale promotion plans though it is having the prestigious Geographical Identification tag. The traditional art and still artisans are failing to put the products for sale online and other strategies to market them. Consequently, the artisans are in no mood to produce the products due to financial constraints.

The cutlery is made of wood with the designs developed from the times of Quli Qutub Shah and the woodcraft has been passed on from generation to generation by master crafts persons of Udayagiri in the district. The craft has been practised by local artisans of Muslim community for the last 40-50 years and there has been no recognition for the craft. The Ministry of Textiles, Government of India, provided skill upgradation training in around 2000-2001 under Ambedkar Hastashilp Vikas Yojana without resolving local issues such as difficulties for collecting raw material from the nearby forest.

The cutlery is made of wood locally available in and around forests of Udayagiri, such as Nardi, Devadaru, Bikki koyya, Kale koyya and Pala koyya. Various cutlery materials primarily bear Persian themes and forms and are being used as gift and decorative items. Some are useful for the kitchen.

Recognising their fame and demand, the Government of India has accorded Geographical Identification (GI) tag for the cutlery in 2017 to this beautiful craft of Nellore. In fact, its master craftswoman Shaik Ghousia Begum of Udayagiri bagged the Dr YSR Achievement Award 2021 for her exceptional skills in producing wooden cutlery.

There are 200-odd families that depend on this craft but have not been able to gain profits due to lacking technical and marketing skills and mainly due to lack of support in widening the marketing network.

Shaik Zakir Hussain, son of Ghousia Begum, says there are about 400 artisans involved in making the cutlery in Udayagiri and a common facility centre had been established by an NGO supported by the then government nearly two decades ago. But the space at the Centre is insufficient and leaks too during the rainy season, preventing artisans from working properly and efficiently. The centre has been provided with Rs 10 lakh worth machinery. Zakir says only 50 per cent of their problems were resolved.

Ghousia Begum said the artisans are participating in exhibitions across the country organised by the government and other NGOs to sell their products and also secure orders. Even though there are many organisations across the country that are putting their cutlery for sale online, now these artisans are planning for a tie-up with online marketing organisations like Amazon and Flipkart utilising its prestigious GI tag.