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Strategies and Approaches:

• Promote production and marketing of high value agricultural products
• Support emergent farmer groups, co-operatives and production and marketing associations (PMAs) and enhance management and technical capacity of Nepali partner NGOSs to undertake economic activities
• Mobilize local resources for income-generating activities without providing or subsidizing credit
• Encourage the participation of women in production, marketing and savings-credit activities, and stimulate their involvement in local economic organizations
• Raise community awareness of nutritional issues
  

Services Provided:

• Full responsibility for the administration and management of project in the field according to agreement with funding agency
• Technical support in the expansion of production and marketing of high value agricultural products
• Technical assistance in the construction of small irrigation systems for off-season and dry season vegetable production, and of small-scale drinking water schemes (time-saving for women)
• Continued advice to beneficiary groups in establishing savings and credit programs
• Training of partner Nepali NGOs on nutrition and co-ordination of campaigns promoting consumption of dark green leafy vegetables and animal products
• Establishment of rehabilitation programs for severely malnourished children
  

Results:

• Over 6,000 households involved in the marketing of cash crops (mainly vegetables), fruits and livestock products and non-timber forest products,
• Animal production at end of the project was expected to reach 11,000 MT valued at Rs 148 million
• 12 farmers co-operatives and dairy co-operatives were established with people trained in management so as to ensure sustainability of production and marketing activities
• Over 300 hectares of land was cultivated in dry season (sprinklers and drip system)
• Over 80 savings and credit organizations were established in project sites with 8,000 members (half of them being women) having access to their services. Total accumulation of funds in these SCOs: Rs 8 million
• Tens of thousands of people provided with education on nutrition.
• Awareness of prevailing nutritional problems significantly increased and daily consumption of food rich in vitamin A and other micro nutrients scaling up
• Cash crop technology adopted by several thousand farmers outside project zone