Displacement Impact & Palm Leaf Livelihoods Study

The Challenge

The COVID-19 pandemic hit displaced Hindu migrant families in Jaisalmer especially hard, disrupting already-fragile livelihoods, housing, and access to basic amenities. Among the skills many of these families carried was traditional palm leaf craft — but with no design updates or market connections, it had never become a real source of income.

Our Response

With support from the Ishwar Seva Foundation (ISF), UJAS ran a study estimating the pandemic’s impact on livelihood, housing, and amenities for close to 800 displaced Hindu migrant families in the area, and assessed how palm leaves were already being used for daily items — a starting point for building a livelihood around the craft.

Following the study, ISF engaged Abeey Yaar Design Atelier on a three-month consultancy to move the craft from informal practice to a marketable product line: a baseline environmental and SWOT study, a skill-training module delivered directly to artisans, and at least 8 new sample designs developed and finalised with UJAS and ISF over the engagement. The agreement also connected artisans to Abeey Yaar’s network of domestic and international clients and to an online marketplace, with an expert visiting the cluster three times a month to support production.

Ongoing Documentation

As part of the consultancy, every stage of the work — training, sample development, and production — was documented in monthly reports, photography, and short video clips, building a record UJAS could use to track the craft’s transition into a sustainable livelihood.