Have you ever wondered what is raffia and where it comes from? Raffia is a plant fiber that comes from the leaves of a tropical palm tree shown in the photo above. This palm is scientifically called the Raphia Farinifera. This palm tree grows in tropical parts of the world including in countries of Africa, South East Asia, Central and South America, and Hawaii. One of the world's best quality raffia, however, grows on the island of Madagascar. In Madagascar, extracting the usable part of the raffia leaves follows a slow and mechanical non polluting multi-step process. It can take several days to obtain usable fibers. The raffia fibers are obtained by stripping the long leaves of the palm tree. Only the long leaves, however, are stripped...