Kerala Handloom GI Gains Fade Without Sustained Economic Support

A Geographical Indication, or GI, label tells people that a product comes from a special place.

Researchers studied four traditional handloom products from Kerala.

They found that sales and weavers’ wages improved somewhat soon after the products received GI labels.

However, these improvements did not last.

Real sales and the buying power of wages later went down.

Fewer people are still working as weavers.

Powerloom competition, higher costs, changing customer tastes and weak marketing are making things harder.

Older workers and fewer young people joining the trade are also problems.

The researchers say a GI label helps show that products are genuine, but it must be supported by better designs, branding, markets and producer organisations.