KROMJA strives to be a company invested in social reforms. It honestly foresees a day in near future when children are free from the looms and lives of servitude. The company is a member of GoodWeave, a non-profit organization dedicated to ending child labor in the carpet industry and providing educational opportunities to children in the weaving communities. For more than two decades now, GoodWeave has been fighting to end child labor by widening the realm of its rug certification program to include more partners in the supply chain. It is ever raising awareness and providing support among consumers, traders, and designers thus reducing prevalence of child labor in the carpet industry.
KROMJA is a strong supporter of the UNDP’s Micro-Enterprise Development Program (MEDEP) in Nepal. Ever since MEDEP identified Allo plant (Himalayan Nettle) as one of the potential raw material for starting an enterprise in 1999, the usage of Allo as an alternative weaving thread has increased significantly. According to UNDP, Allo thread-weaving provides excellent business and employment opportunities for the landless, marginalized and small scale farmers of Nepal as the plant grows in abundance in high altitude and is mostly harvested from community and government owned forests. This kind of enterprise has been very successful primarily, in empowering women economically and socially as the weaving of Allo thread involves mostly women. It has helped better the lives of more than 1000 poor women, mostly from excluded communities in districts all over Nepal. The enterprise has contributed a lot in terms of achieving several of UNDP’s Millennium Development Goals like reducing poverty and hunger, empowering the women, children education as a result of women's empowerment, and improved maternal health.
KROMJA procures all its Allo yarns through the Common Facility Centers (CFC) promoted by MEDEP. These CFCs are established in various districts through MEDEP support, and it provides management and technical skills training, as well as nationwide trading facilities for the farmers.
KROMJA manufactures one third of its rugs using sustainable and eco-friendly plant-based fibers like Allo, Jute, Banana Silk, and Hemp. All these plants are biodegradable, abundantly found in Nepal, and are cultivated without the use of chemical pesticides. They mature very quickly, have remarkable yield ratio, and great soil replenishing properties. We procure all the natural yarns from community driven projects including CFCs which engages mostly women from excluded communities.