Supporting women farmers in their entrepreneurship is crucial for promoting gender equality and economic development in rural areas. This can be achieved through a variety of means, such as providing access to resources, services, and markets, as well as training and education opportunities. Some specific ways to support women farmers’ entrepreneurship include:
Providing access to credit and financial services tailored to the needs of women farmers.
Offering training and education programs on business management, marketing, and financial literacy for women farmers.
Supporting the formation and strengthening of women-led farmers’ groups and cooperatives, which can provide a collective voice for women farmers and help them access resources and markets more effectively.
Promoting policies and programs that are gender-sensitive and take into account the unique needs and challenges faced by women farmers.
Creating opportunities for women farmers to participate in value-added activities such as processing, packaging and branding which can increase their income and help them to be more competitive in the market.
With the above concepts, ONGD-FNEL LUXEMBOURG has been supporting farmers of Dakshinkali Municipality through Shikharapur Community Learning Center. During the end of 2022, SCLC supported 9 farmers from its matching grant support. The farmers were selected by their respective local governments. Since the support is matching grant type, either the local government or the farmer itself will add up 50% or more fund to complete their targeted project.
Farmers and their activities:
1 Muna Lama
Muna Lama of Dakshinkali Municipality Ward No. 1, Khahare is an exemplary farmer. She has been doing various activities in the agricultural sector for a long time. He has been producing vegetables like greens, coriander, palung, chamsur, so he has three tunnels on 12 plantations of land and an open vegetable farm in which cauliflower, spinach, and radish are being produced. With the support received from the organization, she has planned to build one more tunnel and also cultivate cucumbers and capsicum.
2 Ashadevi Rai
Asha Devi Rai is a successful farmer of Ward No. 3 Bhanjyang. She has been cultivating vegetables for the past few years. In the beginning, it was difficult to work alone as she was alone at home and her husband was in Dubai for foreign employment. It was difficult for her to work alone and after seeing a good opportunity in agriculture in Nepal, she invited her husband to Nepal and both husband and wife have been cultivating vegetables commercially. They are working in 23 tunnels on 10 ropani land. To further encourage their business, the organization is going to provide support to them in the form of matching grant.
3 Sushila Shrestha:
Sushila Shrestha and her husband are planning to be known as successful farmers of Dakshinkali municipality and are doing different kinds of agricultural work from other farmers. They are raising 10 goats, 15 lemon trees, 3 plantations of jimbu cultivation, 26 dragon feet cultivation. in 10 Ropani of land. In the coming days, there is a plan to take dragon fruit cultivation commercially, under which they have planned to plant 50 more dragon fruit plants with the support received from the organization.
4 Jaya Lakshmi Balami:
Jaya Lakshmi Balami of Ward No. 6 is a hardworking farmer. She has been doing agriculture as well as animal husbandry. Although her husband is physically disabled, they are doing agricultural work together. They currently have nine tunnels of cauliflower cultivation. With the support received from the learning center, the Balami couple has planned to construct one more tunnel in their firm and to purchase ropes and wires required for the firm.
5 Sita Gadel:
Sita Gadel is a single woman farmer. She works in farming together with her daughter. When she is not working in farming, she earns by doing wage labor in the neighbor’s house to educate her daughter. She also plans to make her own farm, but she could not fulfill her dream due to her poor financial condition. Meanwhile, she has received a lot of help from the organization. With this help, she has planned to build two tunnels on the land near her house.
6 Tirtha Kumari Tamang:
Tirtha Kumari is a busy woman farmer of Kopu village. She has a small grocery shop at home. In addition to this, she has been growing vegetables on five acres of land. Currently, she has two tunnels for flower farming.
7 Sunita Bhlon:
Sunita Bhlon’s business, which started with an investment of 1000 rupees, is now able to invest 3 to 4 lakhs. Not only in the shop business, she is also very active in the agricultural sector by joining various agricultural groups in the village. By constructing a tunnel, she is producing four to five types of vegetables in one tunnel. She is very satisfied with her hard work and with the support received from the organization, she is planning to raise chickens in the future.
8 Amrita Tamang:
Amrita and her husband Bahadur Tamang, who believe in agriculture as their religion, have been working in the agricultural sector for a long time. They have done agricultural work such as poultry farming, vegetable farming, goat rearing, etc. After not being able to get the income they expected, they have now started buffalo farming as a business. Despite a lot of hard work and investment, they are very unhappy because they are not receiving any support from any government or non-government agencies. Although there is not much profit from animal husbandry so far, with the hope of getting good income in the coming days. Currently, there are 11 buffaloes. Out of which three are milking, four are pregnant and the remaining four are ready to be sold. The produced milk is being sold to nearby hotels and dairy. There is a plan to continue this business in the coming days and make a living space for the animals with the support received from the organization.
Report by:
Pramila Waiba,
Agriculture Technician/ ISc.Ag./ JT
Shikharapur CLC ONGD FNEL Project