The raffia fiber is obtained from the raffia palm tree of Madagascar. The raffia palm (Raphia farinifera or R. ruffia) is made of long leaves that can attain 60 ft (18 m) in length. Each raffia palm branch is made of nearly 100 leaflets. The raffia fiber is soft, pliable, and strong. Raffia is exported for various uses, such as tying up plants, binding together vegetables to be marketed, and weaving baskets, hats, and mats. Raffia is also made into a native cloth exported as rabanne. Madagascar Raffia Palm Tree.
Our people go deep into the Tropical Island of Madagascar to harvest the raffia palm leaf. After being dried in the sun, the raffia fiber takes a yellowish color. The raffia fibers are then brought into our warehouses, where they are sorted and separated into different qualities, according to their color, width and texture.
This process produces twelve major qualities of raffia fibers which will be classified into three major groups:
1/ Agricultural raffia
2/ Raffia for Arts & Crafts
3/ Floral raffia
Each Raffia quality is then transferred to another section where they will be either put up into raffia hanks, raffia balls, raffia braids or spools. The finished product is either natural raffia or colored raffia. All these processes from raffia harvesting to raffia dying and raffia packing are done manually by our people to provide you with premium quality raffia.