A success story of a strong process of women empowerment
SYANGJA - A yearlong FAO tele-food project Community Based Off-season Vegetable Production (TDF/14/NEP/001) in Syangja successfully completed in the month July 2016.
The project is focused to smallholder farmers for producing safe and quality products, especially off-season vegetables in Autumn, Winter and Spring and improved maize seed production in summer season with due attention to minimize the use of the harmful chemical, protect the agro-ecosystem and the environment. Year-round vegetable cultivation applying the combination of IPM technology was introduced in the Jaisidada Women’s Community Group consisting of a member from 32 households of the village. TDF-14/NEP/001 was launched with the community from July 2015 to July 2016. The project is spread over an area of 10 hectare where the community members successfully achieved the goals of fresh healthy vegetables production and improved Maize seed production.
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Sabitri, who is an example of a strong process of women empowerment remarkably in the Dalit community, said, “We are no more dependent on our husbands to meet daily household expenses, rather we are in position to provide pocket money to them.”
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The women farmers community, after receiving the training, adapted technology of composting and Integrated Pest Management (IPM), rain water harvesting and collection in the small plastic ponds and construction of plastic tunnels for off season vegetable production.
Birendra Bahadur Hamal, an agro expert, who was a former District Agriculture Development Officer of Syangja district, said, “Farmers have learned to prepare and use home-made organic liquid pesticides popularly known as Jholmal, which is applying in their farm. Frequencies of using chemical pesticides have been reduced, and now the group farmers are fully aware and maintaining waiting period while harvesting and selling fresh vegetables.” The farming community of Jaisidada is using fertilizers like compost and the Farm yard Manure (FYM), which is prepared basically using cow dung, cow urine, waste straw and other dairy wastes. They are now aware with hazards caused by mishandling and mismanagement of chemicals in human and domestic animals as well as environment. They are growing cauliflower, cabbage, radish, peas, beans, broccoli, carrot, broad leaf mustard and tomato.
They are also cultivating summer vegetables in the plastic tunnels likeleafy vegetable and tomato) and outside the tunnels (cucumber, sponge gourd, snake gourd, bitter gourd, chili, capsicum, Bottle gourd, eggplant, okra, pumpkin etc.
The Telefood project has extended its support to the farmers Group to construct 40 plastic tunnels and 32 plastic ponds, at least one plastic tunnel and one plastic pond in each household. They are now equipped with electronic weighing machine and electric maize peeling machine/maize thresher. With the support of the project, the community has constructed a community building with the rooms for meeting and storages of seeds, fertilizers and agro-products.
It is notable that the Jaisidada Women Farmers' Group had produced about 57600 kilogram of winter vegetables. After selling 62 percent of what they had produced (about 35.8 metric ton), they earned NRP 1432000 equivalent to USD 13638 (about USD 422 per household). Their domestic consumption of the winter vegetables ranges up to 38 percent of the total production (as per record maintained in the register/mid-term report of the project).
Kalpana Poudel, 38, a woman farmer, said that members of the Women Farmers Group are earning approximately NPR 1506560, which is USD 14080 (440 per household) from 39.0 mt. summer vegetables, and NPR 712620, which is USD 6660 (208 per household) from 10.0 metric ton of improved maize seed sale.
Highlighting positive aspects of the Jaisidada Women Community Farmers Group, Sabitri B.K., 45 year old Dalit (so-called lower caste in Hindu culture) woman, said that Dalit women are playing active role in the group. Dalits are considered to be socially excluded in the orthodox Hindu society of Nepal. Sabitri, who is an example of a strong process of women empowerment remarkably in the Dalit community, said, “We are no more dependent on our husbands to meet daily household expenses, rather we are in position to provide pocket monies to them.”
With collective efforts for marketing through Agriculture Cooperative Society, the members of the Jaisidada Community Women Group are receiving daily income selling their healthy vegetable products in the market. The empowered women of Jaisidada are also providing technical support to 29 other women’s group of Aarukharka VDC to adapt the community based off season vegetable farming in their respective villages.