Eating Better, Earning More!

Our partner communities and partner farmers live in some of Nepal’s most remote communities. Markets are a long ways away – often take many days of walking to reach. Our strategy is not to bring products to market, but instead to focus on products that have enough value to bring the markets into these remote areas.

This is where the farmers come in again. They know the traders, and they know what is in high demand locally. Accordingly, we have had great success with growing durable crops like onions, hot peppers, and other spices. Medicinal plants like the herb chirito and black cardamon can increase incomes for farmers in our project areas by thousands of dollars per year – without them ever having to leave their community.

Employing these three simple mantras, we have sat down with over 2,500 farmers to create a locally driven agriculture program since the mid of 2014.

Impacts

We are glad to share that in a recent evaluation, we learned 98% of farmers in our agriculture programs are consuming more vegetables, and another 65% are earning new income. Over two dozen farmers have raised their incomes by more than $2,000 USD per year – nearly three times the average annual income for Nepal.

The crops that are the most popular among majority of farmers for income purpose are red onion, ginger, turmeric, green peppers, chiraito and cardamom. All of these crops can be stored for a longer time without the danger of spoiling, and local merchants often come to the farmer’s home to buy these off because they are so much in demand. Farmers here have always grown these crops but in a very limited quantity which was barely enough for their household. We gave the farmers incentive to grow these crops in large scale by giving them training on more efficient technology, be helping them select healthy and productive seed and introducing limited subsidy for the first year.

Nanda Kumari Rai has started making small income through selling of onions and other vegetables. She shares happily that this new income has helped her to support in the education of her children.
Bishnu Karki  had a very successful year from his “Akbare” hot peppers in 2015. He shares with us that he added some 20 plants of his own in the 30 that we supported him in the first year and earned about NRs. 8,000 from them. “Akabare” peppers are incredibly spicy, and a very lucrative cash crop in rural Nepal.

Similarly, Manmaya and Dhan Bahadur Rai sold their first ever cabbages last year worth around Nrs. 400(~USD4). Dhan Bahadur explains jovially that he distributed much cabbages freely to his friends, neighbors and relatives too. This year, the couple are earnestly waiting to harvest their turmeric which will fetch them a few thousand rupees.

Eating Better 

Another great benefit of our agricultural programs are that farmers are eating fresh vegetables when previously such were not available locally. The women members of our farmers’ groups share that it has been especially easy for them when guests come as they do not have to fret over what to cook anymore. They just have to get to their kitchen garden where a variety of herbs, spices and vegetables can be found year round.

Before our programs started, many farmers could only eat cauliflowers, broccoli, parsley, tomato, turnip, carrot and other green vegetables when they traveled to the large cities of the southern plains or Kathmandu. Thanks to our work, these delicious and healthy crops are available right there in their doorstep, growing in their yard.

Challenges

There are also many challenges and hurdles that come our way. They are what keeps us grounded, learning, and continuously on our toes. Some of the main challenges is lack of water sources for irrigation in many places. Then there are also the issues of bio-pesticides not being enough to control many harmful pests and diseases. This is a global problem with organic agriculture but we are patiently experimenting with our farmers to develop an optimal system for pest management that relies upon local techniques and ingredients. Our farmers are scattered throughout the difficult hilly terrain and it is also a challenge for our small team to regularly make house visits and monitor their vegetable plots.

Looking Forward

In response to community demand, we have set an ambitious goal – to more than double the scope of our income generation programs – thus bringing new sources of income and better nutrition to 4,000 families in some of the poorest communities in Nepal. We will be increasing the number of our farmers group, and also expand to several other neighboring communities throughout 2016 and 2017.

You can learn more about our agriculture program in detail including the challenges in our 2015 evaluation report.