The people of the Makalu-Barun have rich traditions and cultures, but local subsistence farming does not produce enough food for and entire year. Most families need to earn about Rs. 5,000 per year to make up for months of scarcity. Crafts are one means of generating income for villagers using skills that they already have. To improve the livelihood of the local people, the Makalu-Barun Conservation Project promotes the production and marketing of handicrafts made with traditional skills and carefully harvested local products. Identifying and encouraging these income-generating activities has helped to reduce natural resource abuses and improve the quality of life of the rural people, especially women.

Sunakhari (orchid stems) is a plant with spiritual powers used to make protective necklaces, broaches and shaman's headdresses.

Bamboo is made into everything from houses to combs. Bamboos varieties growing at different elevations have particular uses, including making carrying baskets, mats, finely woven boxes, or ingenious musical instruments such as the tungna, a tonal percussion instrument or the binayo, a kind of mouthharp.

The Giant Stinging Nettle, Girardinia diversifolia, grows at an altitude of 1200-3000 meters throughout the Himalaya and provides the raw material for Allo cloth production. The Allo Cloth Production Clubs in the Makalu-Barun are a wonderful example of traditional handicrafts working to provide sustainable livelihoods.