SD: People : Small farmers' group networks: A case study of Small Farmers Cooperatives Limited in Nepal

Posted February 1998

Small farmers' group networks: A case study of Small Farmers Cooperatives Limited in Nepal

by Kailash Pyakuryal
Professor of Rural Sociology
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
Tribhuvan University, Nepal

Note: This page presents the Table of Contents and Introduction of the case study. You may also download the complete case study in Word 6.0 for Windows (.ZIP, 45K) K)

1. Introduction

2. Background and study objectives

3. Methodology

4. Findings
  4. 1 Case Study: SFCL, Bhalwad, Kapilbastu
  4. 2 Case Study: SFCL, Piple, Chitwan
  4. 3 Case Study: SFCL, Bhumisthan, Dhading
  4. 4 Case Study: SFCL, Chhatre Deurali

5. Lessons learned

Annexes
1. Organizational Hierarchy of the SFCL
2. Small Farmers Village Promoters Training
3. Comparative status of four SFCLs
4. Some other key features
5. Assests in Million
6. Questionnaire

Introduction

A workshop titled Development Support for Small Farmers was organized in Kathmandu, Nepal during January 4-14, 1975 under the joint auspices of the then Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Irrigation, Ministry of Land Reforms, the Asian Development Bank of Nepal (ADB/N), and FAO/Asian Survey on Agrarian Reform & Rural Development. Following the workshop recommendations, a pilot project in Mahendranagar of Dhanusha in the central Tarai district of Nepal was implemented with a broad humanistic goal of facilitating to achieve minimum desirable quality of life to the marginalized small farmers. Five months later, in March 1976, similar field action project was also started in Tupche, Nuwakot in the central hill district of Nepal. It came into operation in the form of a pilot sub-project office (SPO). The ADB/N was the executing agency of both the projects and FAO/ASARRD provided an initial guarantee - cum - risk fund support with US$ 30,000. The experiment grew in what is now called Small Farmers Development Project (SFDP). The main objective of SFDP is to help improve the socio-economic status of the rural poor using a group approach. Rapid expansion of SFDP began only after 1980. At present 422 SPOs of SFDP have been rendering services to 182,507 small farmers including 38886 poor women members of 652 VDCs in all 75 districts of the kingdom. As of mid July 1995, the total number of groups formed were 24,738 and of which 5,153 were from female and 19,585 were male groups.

The total disbursement, collection and outstanding loan amount stands more than Rs. 2991 million, Rs. 1767 million and Rs. 1208 million respectively and the saving amount stands at Rs. 557 million during the period.

Institutional development is one of the major activities under the SFDP. The major activities include: economic activities, social and community development, community irrigation, environmental conservation, women development, training, institutional development, saving and mobilization and collaboration with NGOs. Under the institutional development program, the ADB/N first initiated various activities in Dhading district since 1987/88. This program aims at making the small farmers capable and self-reliant for undertaking various socio-economic activities by developing local self-help small farmers organizations and building their managerial capacity to take over the responsibility of the SPOs and independently run the process of organizing, planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluation of the programs for the betterment of small farmer families.

The Institutional Development Program (IDP) is a process wherein the activities undertaken by the SPOs will be handed-over to the executive body of the small farmers' organization i.e. the Small Farmers Cooperative Limited (SFCL).

The ID program was initiated in Dhading district in 1987/88 with the financial support of the Dhading Development Project (GTZ). Technical support has been crucial in promoting the self-help small farmers organizations. The support fund covered the cost of youth and women workers, farmers managed irrigation systems, inter-group saving promotion fund and small scale community development activities. In the first phase of the institutional development, four SPOs were handed over to the respective SFCLs. Positive result as well as the effectiveness of the program led to replicate the program in other district of the country. During the last three years a total of 34 SFCLs have been organized and entrusted with the activities carried out by the SPOs.

Since 1994/1995, SFDP/GTZ/TA is supporting the institutional development program in other parts of the country. To strengthen the ID activities, ADB/N and GTZ made an agreement on July 18, 1995 under which GTZ will provide up to DM one million in two years period (July 1995-July 1997). The functional agreement covers the following activities.

Ward level seminars
Training allowances of youth and women workers
Seminar of promoters
Revolving fund up to Rs. 500,000 per SFCL
Various training activities
National and farmers level seminar at ATRI and RTC
Action research and
Cost of monitoring and evaluation of the program

You may download the complete text of Small farmers' group networks: a case study of Small Farmers Cooperatives Limited in Nepal in Word 6.0 for Windows (.ZIP, 45K)