A key focus of WIN Nepal was to build the capacity of local groups to manage their own economic diversification activities. To this end, the project began its LDED activities in 2001, with district planning workshops and PRAs. The national and district teams assisted the groups in the planning of their group and/or community action plans, such that, by the end of 2001, the groups had produced 45 group plans for the following year. Altogether, 75 groups, from different ethnic and marginalized groups, were engaged in a variety of activities. It is anticipated that, in the future, these group plans will be integrated into the Village Development Committee (VDC) planning processes.
WIN has succeeded in reaching the most vulnerable communities in rural Nepal[3]. Membership of the groups has increased local women’s confidence, leading to a greater economic awareness and the emergence of a common vision. Their capacity for decision-making and planning has improved, as has their sense of civic duty and the project has helped them to increase their bargaining power in negotiating access to government services.
A national level steering committee was formed which encouraged the decentralization of decision-making processes. The national and district WIN teams (whose members were mainly drawn from line ministries) were trained in project management and gender-sensitive participatory planning. The relationships between staff of different ministries improved, leading to more effective cooperation. Multi-disciplinary WIN teams were established and trained in a wide range of socioeconomic and technical topics, in order to support the developmental initiatives of local groups. Partnerships were identified and developed with various international and local non-government organizations (NGOs), the national line ministries and donors[4].
Photo: WIN-Nepal team, K. Eckman, November 2003
Community-based seedling nurseries
Livestock production
Home-based vegetable production
Community-based seedling nurseries
Key brainstorming and participatory rural analysis (PRA) sessions involving the WIN district teams and local women’s groups led to the establishment of the community nurseries. The nurseries prepared high-value vegetable seedlings for the transfer to household plots. Families, who had been temporarily relocated due to insecurity, were provided with the seedlings as part of a "mini-kit", which included plastic sheets, vegetable seeds, pesticides and other inputs, at a nominal price. Other households in the community were also able to purchase the seedlings, at a higher price. A volunteer technician was trained to supervise the nurseries. Support was provided to the nurseries by the district WIN teams, the Women Development Officer (WDO) and social mobilizers.
Over time some women set up their own nurseries to sell seedlings, which provided them with a new source of income.
Livestock production
Underlining this activity was a recognition of the central role that livestock play in the livelihoods of the poor, in providing economic and nutritional benefits. It was noted that, in parts of Nepal, one goat can provide a household with sufficient income to pay for their children’s clothes and school fees[5]. Poultry and eggs are a further source of income as both can be sold or bartered locally at any time. It is, thus, unsurprising that the communities identified livestock raising as a key diversification and income generating activity.
In Bardia, local women had expressed their interest in livestock raising during field visits by the WIN district team. Further visits, as well as group discussions, then led to the development of the activity. The Hills Leasehold Forest and Forage Development Project (HLFFDP) provided a suitable precedent for the activity.
In Doti, WIN established a partnership with the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and carried out a PRA with the existing women’s groups to determine key activities. As the LWF had already initiated some livestock raising activities, the WIN team supported their continued development.
The district WIN teams distributed pigs and goats to the poorest group members. The intention was that the offspring of these animals would then be given, free, to another member of the group. The process would continue until the entire target group had received an animal.
The WIN district teams and district livestock service officers (DLSOs) trained volunteer village animal health workers (VAHWs) in 2002 to provide basic veterinary services at the local level. The VAHWs have since been incorporated into the regular activities of the ministry. WIN also organized livestock skills training on a regional basis, which has led to local people having better access to public services.
Napier grass seedlings were also distributed in order to reduce the time spent by women on collecting fodder for the ruminants. The DLSO trained one woman farmer in nursery development for fodder plants and, by 2003, 7500 plants were transplanted from her nursery to the land of all 70 women farmers. In her first year of operation, the nursery worker earned Rs 5000 (US$ 67). One caretaker, Bhagawati Khadka*, said:
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"When the DLSO staff trained us about nursery plants and grass, no one among us could decide about starting a nursery on our own private land. Because we women do not have decision making powers due to not having control over our land. I discussed with my family members about this. At first my mother-in-law, father-in-law and husband prevented me from undertaking the nursery development activity. But I have decided to influence their decision to allow me to use the unfertile part of our land for the model activity. Now when I earned Rs 5000 (US$67) from the sale, everybody in my family is very happy and encouraging me to continue such activity. Despite preventing me from nursery raising, my in-laws at least supported me in doing all manual work and thus I was able to make developments. You should know that the money is with me only which I have kept in my own name in the government bank at Dipayal. My family members are appreciating my work and so I shall again undertake new activity on my own decision"*
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Support for the livestock activities was provided by the WIN district teams, the Women’s Development Officer, local social mobilizers, and the LWF.
Home-based vegetable production enterprises
The vegetable production activities built on the partnership between WIN, the International Fund for Agricultural Development’s (IFAD) HLFFD project and GTZ’s[6] Integrated Food Security Project (IFSP). WIN’s teams provided support in small-scale irrigation and training in nutrition, health and vegetable production to minority women’s groups in Bardia, Doti and Kanchanpur, with whom GTZ was already working.
In Bardia, the activities were identified through group discussions and a PRA of the local community, while in Doti, local women suggested the idea during group discussions and PRA activities. In Kanchanpur, a PRA was carried out, and the idea emerged through group discussions with freed Kamayas.
Home-based kitchen gardens were set-up to encourage crop diversification and to increase the nutritional levels of local households. The establishment of the community seedling nurseries facilitated the development of these homegardens. WIN distributed "mini-kits", including lentil and bean seeds, to the women. Any surpluses of vegetables can be sold, providing these marginalized women with an additional source of income. At Khari Tole, the women saved on input costs by replacing fertilizer with compost. By August 2002, the groups had begun to sell their produce, with some members earning more than Rs 3000 (US$ 39) in 2003 through selling at the market in Dipayal. They estimate that they can earn Rs 15.000 (US$ 197) per year if production is expanded in 2004. Many women have used this extra income to send their children to school[7].
In Bardia, the landless Jagriti women in the On-Farm Water Management (OFWM)[8] scheme were organized into associations in order to participate in the scheme. In Doti and Kanchanpur, on the other hand, social mobilizers worked with the existing GTZ groups. The groups were supported in these activities by the WIN district teams and GTZ’s Rural Community Infrastructure Works (RCIW) project.
Over time, the WIN farmers have become more oriented to market production. This is largely due to the PRA and community planning activities. The groups have made their own investments in small-scale organic production methods, and have the ability to produce a greater range of off-season vegetables. Vegetables are sold locally or in neighboring towns. As a result, the participants can be seen to have exercised control of agricultural inputs and skills, thus increasing their incomes.
Photo: Woman in the vegetable garden, WIN-Nepal, K. Eckman, November 2003
Micro-irrigation and the training of women masons
Asset creation
Business skills development
Micro-irrigation and training of women masons
A technical and economic feasibility analysis of designing and developing small-scale irrigation schemes was undertaken by WIN, in cooperation with International Development Enterprises (IDE), who carried out a cost benefit analysis at three sites in Doti, and one in Kanchanpur. During the district planning workshops in Doti and Kanchanpur, in January 2002, small-scale, low-cost irrigation technology to intensify production was introduced.
At Khari Tole, 70 women from ethnic minority groups were organized and trained by the WIN district team and GTZ-RCIW to provide them with better access to water resources, for drinking and for irrigation. Eleven of these women adapted the technology for their vegetable gardens, purchasing drip systems and micro sprinklers. An existing ferro-cement tank was rehabilitated, using local equipment, at Khari Tole. Local women were trained as masons to enable them to maintain the structure and the sub-tanks.
Increased access to low-cost irrigation technologies helped participants to increase food production and to diversify their farming systems. Vegetables are now produced for home consumption and for sale at the local market. Micro-irrigation has allowed the women to adopt year-round production, which has increased the food security of marginalized groups.
Asset creation
Savings and credit became a very popular, and almost fundamental, activity among women’s groups, with over forty savings groups and more than Rs 50,000 (US$657) saved by 2002. The members mobilized group savings for their own personal needs, sometimes also for productive use such as buying goats and chickens for income generating purposes[9].
Business skills development
WIN and RCIW introduced business skills development. Training in basic literacy and numeracy training was followed by information on legal rights, planning skills, marketing strategies and record keeping. However, the groups would require additional support to enable them to expand their newly launched IGAs.
Diversified vegetable production increased incomes, improved nutrition and the surplus connected communities to local markets.
Livestock production increased women’s incomes and improved household nutrition.
Diversification into commercial fodder and seedling nurseries increased the availability of good quality planting materials to producers, brought an additional revenue stream, and reduced the risk to households in vulnerable rural areas.
The WIN project used a number of practices, such as PRAs, grassroots mobilization, group development, and others, which are not unique, either to WIN or to livelihoods and enterprise development activities. However, it is clear that had these methods not been used by WIN many of the income generating activities would never have emerged. Below are outlined some of the key factors which led to the emergence of IGAs:
Targeting marginalized groups allowed them to begin realizing their economic potential and to enter the marketplace. WIN-Nepal deviated from the project document to reach out to those living in irrigation command areas without access to water or other productive resources.
Iterative participatory rural appraisals (PRAs), facilitated by experienced national consultants, resulted in a comprehensive database and understanding of gender, labor and property relations at the production and marketing levels.
Community action planning enabled the groups to identify an IGA, which the women had the resources to invest in, and to identify products/outputs with local market potential.
Empowerment of groups by social mobilizers led to their increased solidarity and confidence, collective decision-making and sharing of tasks in the group enterprise.
Capacity building of the groups in literacy and numeracy, business skills, management, record keeping, participatory monitoring and other skills enabled the groups to plan financially and to keep their own records.
Multi-disciplinary district-level teams of extensionists from several line-agencies provided technical training and backstopping in a variety of areas.
Asset creation (group savings and expansion of land under cultivation) enabled women to diversify their production strategies and invest in small-scale technologies.
As a result of their technical training, groups were able to harvest good quality vegetables for sale in local markets.
Feasibility studies and the experience of WIN’s partners helped in assessing the relative cost-effectiveness and financial viability of IGAs, as well as in testing the technologies before they were promoted to the groups.
Periodic district workshops, focused on building consensus and the capacities of local stakeholders, resulted in transparency, a local sense of ownership of the process, and clarity of roles and responsibilities of the various partners.
Collaboration with partner agencies enabled strong synergies, built on previous experiences and avoided duplication.
Building effective support and linkages at the policy level has helped to sustain the LDED efforts and to raise awareness of the impact of policy decisions at the upper levels of government.
Off-farm sales remained limited due to low production during the first year the IGAs were operational.
The increased involvement of women in the management of OFWM irrigation schemes did not take place, and IGAs did not emerge at some of the OFWM sites.
There is a degree of uncertainty around the long-term future and sustainability of the new IGAs.
Weak links between the groups and the local government structures
Some of the key factors behind these are outlined below:
During the project phase, a restructuring of the local government system was being undertaken.
The Ministry of Local Development was not included on the project steering committee.
At the beginning, OFWM was unsure about the added-value that could be added by the WIN project.
Too much attention was paid to technical production aspects during training and too little to post-production, socio-economic and marketing aspects.
Prevailing socio-economic and gender patterns at the OFWM sites were not effectively transformed.
There was a lack of technical expertise in LDED/IGAs at the scheme level.
WIN’s short project timeline threatened on-going support to group capacity building efforts.
A lack of a bridging phase and the failure to undertake a second phase.
Strongly participatory initiatives need time to take off as the groups build their capacity, learn new production techniques, and identify markets.
Weak links and knowledge about markets, coupled with the weak marketing infrastructure in rural areas (public and private)
Limited technical backstopping capacity in LDED/IGAs at district and national levels.
The national teams were unaware of the normative work in LDED at FAO and other organizations.
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[3] WIN-Nepal, April 2002
Report on the Informal Mid-Term Review, Katmandu, FAO [4] WIN-Nepal April 2002, ibid. [5] Eckman, K. December 2001 CTA’s Mid-Term Note Rome, FAO [6] GTZ, or Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit, is the German government agency which promotes international cooperation for sustainable development [7] Lama et al, December 2003 [8] OFWM is a component of the Nepal Irrigation Sector Programme [9] Lama, August 2002 |
