One of three objectives of our work is economic empowerment which means that communities are able to pursue sustainable livelihood options for reduced poverty. The outcome of our work in this field are enhanced nutrition and household food security, increased household income and increased investment in basic need and well-being, as well as reduced risk and vulnerabilities for improved livelihood security.
Economic Empowerment
Ongoing Projects
Goal
To improve the living situation of marginalized and vulnerable people through introducing sustainable agriculture, cooperative development, enterprise development and the creation of additional income and employment opportunities.
Duration
July 2018 to June 2021
Location
Jhapa, Dhanusa, Lalitpur, Kathmandu, Dhading, Chitwan; Nawalpur, Kaski,Lamjung; Dang, Pyuthan, Banke, Bardiya, Palpa, Surkhet, Dailekh, Jajjarkot; Kailali, Kanchanpur, Baitadi
Beneficiaries Outreach
37941 direct participants, among them 24,908 are female
Funding Partner
Caritas Australia, Australian Aid
The Situation (Background)
NLRP is a program consisting of three ongoing individual projects, namely Integrated Pest Management (IPM), Cooperative Development and Enterprise Promotion Program (CDEPP) and Children and Youth Empowerment Program (CYEP). NLRP supports communities in the fight against poverty, promotes social and economic development through diversified livelihoods to achieve sustainable prosperity.
Approach (Strategies)
The project seeks to improve human, social, natural, financial and physical capacities. In the course of this, the following measures will be taken:
- Promotion of biological practices and control.
- Support for an efficient and effective use of local resources.
- Training of agricultural students for the IPM extension.
- Encouraging farmers, foreigners and students to visit the Agro-Eco Tourism Learning Centre and Homestay to learn about eco-friendly farming practices and technologies.
- Raising awareness about child policies and rights among the pupils by offering extracurricular activities in schools.
- Increasing safety at school so that children always feel safe and comfortable.
- Motivating children to get involved in school-based clubs in order to strengthen their team spirit. In this way, children of different castes, religions and faiths are brought together which increases the acceptance of students among themselves.
- Launching campaigns to reduce child marriage and drug use.
- Integrating adolescents into vocational training and financially supporting them so that they can start their own businesses.
Integrated Pest Management
Achievements
- All 56 farmers from five follow-up groups supported the cultivation of high quality vegetables and 80% of the farmers achieved a net profit of NPR 123,434 this year.
- 61 farmers from ten community groups operating a high-quality enterprise (agriculture and livestock) managed to improve their budgetary profit (NPR 53,857 on average) and their nutritional status.
- In total, 43 farmers in Jhapa, Nawalpur, Dhading, Kanchanpur, Kaski and Lalitpur earned around 0.7 million NPR from livestock farms.
- The net profit of MALH averages 79,710 NPR per person (79 participants). 23 people earned about 4,902,675 NPR through homestays, 11 farmers generated 1,480,900 NPR through HVC operations, and 24 earned around 2,241,935 NPR from livestock farms such as poultry, bees and goats. 2 persons earned 30,330 NPR and 12,380 NPR respectively in high-tech agriculture and organic laboratories.
- Ten disabled farmers who benefited from the promotion of quality enterprises were able to earn about 15,684 NPR on average.
- The food security and nutritional status of 4,992 smallholders in a total of 200 groups in 18 districts has been improved through the extension of the IPM FFS for rice and vegetables.
- Rice production increased by 27.99% due to the introduction of IPM practices.
- 434 farmers were trained in 16 “Farmer Field Schools” and recorded an average increase in vegetable yields of 54.25%.
- 28 training courses for kitchen gardeners and organic farmers were successfully carried out at 23 locations. Farmers who received training have been able to produce fresh and healthy vegetables for their own consumption, and the sale of their surplus products has improved their nutritional status.
- 786 farmers were trained in 28 Farmer Field Schools and demonstrated at least 32.5% increase in rice yields.
- 793 formerly trained smallholder farmers assisted in the launch of IPM in rice production were able to increase their rice yields by 27.99%.
- 290 small farmers were directly involved in the demonstration of rice cake trials. 70% of farmers are now able to differentiate different types of rice based on their characteristics and recognize diseases, pest resistance and high productivity.
- 347 smallholders were directly involved in the demonstration of maize and wheat trials. Farmers can now select suitable maize and wheat varieties based on their characteristics that are disease and pest resistant.
Agro-Eco Tourism Learning Center and Homestay
Achievements
- Caritas Nepal has managed to convince farmers to grow organic vegetables through IPM technologies. This helped them to produce healthy food and massively increase their production rate.
- A total of 279 smallholder farmers of HVE groups and Machhapuchchhre Agro-ecotourism Learning center and Homestay (MALH) were able to increase their household income. 30 people established two new homestays.
Cooperative Development and Enterprise Promotion
Achievements
- Caritas Nepal has established and / or strengthened more than 150 cooperatives to date.
- 161 leaders trained on animation and social action, cooperative account keeping, cooperative & financial management, cooperative business plan and loan management. This has supported cooperatives to maintain transparency, good governance and provide better services to their members resulting in increased membership.
- 1,259 new members joined cooperatives only in this reporting year; 82.13% of all total members are women.
- 71.82% of female presence in cooperative committees out of 433 people, 311 are women leaders working to strengthen their organization and provide services to the community.
- NPR 235,240,000 in micro-credit managed members of the 24 cooperatives have access to financial services and 4,886 cooperative members received credit, 86% of which for the productive sector. Out of 367 cooperative members involved in small enterprises, 78% are female.
- 1,985 people oriented on DRR, Cooperatives are promoting awareness programmes to protect the environment and reduce disaster risks.
Children and Youth Empowerment
Promotion of Women's Empowerment and Rights Targeting Rural Women
Goal
To stop hunger and to promote food security through sustainable agriculture. To adapt to climate change in South Asia
Duration
April 2018 to March 2022
Location
Nawalparasi, Bardia, Banke and Surkhet
Beneficiaries Outreach
783 marginalized ethnic, 126 socially excluded and 266 in general
Funding Partner
Caritas Austria
Implementing Partner
Various Caritas organisations
The Situation (Background)
In the districts of Nepal mentioned above, many families continue to suffer from famine, low food security, short-term agriculture and, more recently, the effects of climate change.
Approach (Strategies)
The project therefore motivates smallholders to reach the goal of sustainable agriculture. This is achieved by improving their strategies for production, marketing, consumption and risk mitigation with regard to climate change.
Other measures include agricultural activities to adapt to climate change and increase agricultural production, “On Farm Action Research” led by farmers, strengthening resilience to climate change, improving food and nutrition security and supporting advocacy to influence national policy.
Achievements
- Farmers are aware of the opportunities and gaps in the different farming systems. Farmers are more aware of climate change.
- Farmers use more locally available resources such as farmyard manure, compost and pesticides than before
- Farmers are able to conduct simple agricultural action research on rice and other crops, which will ultimately help them to strengthen resilience to climate change and other natural disasters.
- Farmers, including schoolchildren, pay more attention to health, nutrition, nutrition and hygiene.
- Tree planting was carried out on public and private land, including school gardens and health posts
- A formal partnership has been signed with the only statewide University of Agriculture and Forestry. This has ensured cooperation in science and research.
Completed Projects
Goal: Improve livelihoods of poor households by enabling them to make business plans and to develop effective strategies to access market.
Location and participants: Chinchu and Gadi village of Surkhet district. Total – 38 female farmers.
Nepal’s population is 29 million with a growth rate of 1.35% per year. About one fourth of the households live below the poverty line. Only about 10% of Nepali adults have taken bank loans (WB 2013). Nutritional status of about half the population is not satisfactory (13.7% wasting, 31.1% underweight, 41.5% stunting-Agriculture Development Strategy of Agriculture Ministry – ADS). Poverty has led to exodus of men to access labour and low skill work in the middle-east and other regions. Women have also migrated to access work abroad and fallen victims to trafficking.
Rural people are dependent on subsistence agriculture for survival. There is very limited opportunity for off farm employment. The rural households do not have access to opportunities for wider enterprise development. While opportunities for enterprises exist based on resource and market context of the various locations, lack of skill and capital is a constraint. Deforestation and climate change has added additional risks to farming and communities.
Caritas Nepal had implemented “Nepal in Cooperative and Enterprise- NICE” project in this location of Surkhet and other locations with the support of Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand (2013-15). Building on the experience of the NICE project to improve livelihoods of poor households, this project has been developed. The project is pilot testing technologies and processes to enable people to more effectively improve their livelihoods and access market.
