Nepal Emergency COVID-19 fund

In addition to the corona virus pandemic, Nepal is facing multiple other challenges that to date include not only 250 deaths from the virus, but also over 2,000 reported suicides. People can't work and they can't earn. As in the rest of the world, food is more expensive because of interruption to supply lines with the country in lockdown since March 2020. But in Nepal, it is much more fatal.

Over the years, we distributed seeds to over 3000  women in Solukhumbhu in our Seeds for relief , and now most of those crops are ready for harvest. Walking from home to home to assess the program’s progress, our field mobilizers and agriculture experts are happy to report nothing but happiness and success stories.  

 
While we are all facing our own sets of challenges and learning to live with the “new normal,” it is inspiring to know that over 3000 families in Solukhumbhu are sharing the joys of self-reliance and independence from growing their own food and knowing that they do not have to depend on unreliable food aid.

The village women have been sharing how working in the farm and tending to the gardens of beans, cabbage, carrots, tomatoes, and many more crops, is actually giving them mental peace and joy. “Every morning as we tend to our little growing seeds, it gives us hopes that our days can be much different than what it used to be,” Bimala from Tingla said.  Many women are planning to sell their excess vegetables in the Saturday markets and expand their farming into actual businesses, while others prefer to preserve their excess vegetables for winter.

Maya glowed with happiness as she shared her story with us. “I always dreamed of being self-reliant, but I got married early and ended up growing kids and fully dependent on my husband. Life is hard because my husband is working abroad, but income is not good and with the pandemic I was very worried for our future.  When I got these seeds and the training, I was confident that I can do something on my own. Today, I am very happy that everything seems to be growing fine despite a lot of monsoon rain here. I am planning to sell the vegetables and generate some income because this is a lot more than my family can consume.”

Some basic skills taught, e.g., how to start seeds properly, pruning, 3G cutting, adding the right amount of compost fertilizer, use of  raised beds, etc., were just some of the new ideas the farmers learned during the training. For example, they were happy and surprised to see the difference between the amount of tomatoes grown traditionally and after 3G cutting.

Overall, the women accepted the program wholeheartedly and, as a result, not only have fresh, healthy, home-grown foods on their plates, but also have exciting possibilities for a bright new future, food security, and happiness to share with their families.

What has proven to be very beneficial are the groups that were formed, each consisting of 25 women, with two key leaders from each group.  The leaders are the liaisons between the Small World team and the women and contact us if anyone needs additional support from our experts. The women have very much enjoyed this arrangement because they can easily share their stories and problems and find solutions in their groups. Through this, the women are empowered to find workable solutions, build relationships, establish trust and independence, increase self-esteem, self- reliance, and a stronger community, all vital qualities, especially during the world pandemic.

We are determined to reach out to more women in need in spite of the challenging world and local situations. Without your support, however, none of this will be possible. We are very thankful to everyone who has helped us to reach these families and bring new hope and enormously beneficial change to their lives.

Now, we are working toward children's education for those families specially seasonal trekking porters, single mothers and daily worker for those who lost their jobs and some of their families during the pandamic . Please more than ever now we need your support to keep continue their children education read more here 

Links:

• Children Education project affected by Pandemic

Seeds of Hope- Covid-19 Pandemic Response

With the world in a slow but encouraging recovery post-Covid, Nepal’s remote Himalayan districts are in quite a different position with the economic crisis looming larger than ever and worsening deficits of reliable and sustainable means of support.

THE CAUSE

Though the issue of food availability has always been critical, the pandemic crisis compelled us to come up with a solution; we initiated the Seeds of Hope program to counter the worsening conditions during and after the damaging effects of Covid - and forever. Our resolve was strengthened when we found that 70% of women who joined could not buy enough food to last for more than two days for their household.

IMPACT

The driving force behind Seeds of Hope program is for self-sufficiency and sustainable assistance at all times, especially during any crises. Its hallmark benefits: farmers can provide fresh, healthy food for their families and communities; it fosters their sense of independence, pride and self-respect; and it provides economic empowerment and business skills as excess vegetables can be sold for profit.

THE CHALLENGES

With farmers worldwide on the frontline of the climate crisis, Himalayan farmers face similar trials with atypical floods, droughts, and storms, higher temperatures, and shifting rainfall patterns with excessively wet or dry periods; all have contributed to crop failures and critical food shortages.

To counter these issues, we resolved to build a greenhouse for over 100 farmers this year. Farmers are now also receive training on the effects of climate change and how they can use technology to adapt, such as soil mulching and rainwater harvesting.

Kumari from Tamakhani happily related, "Sometimes a heavy downpour and hailstones would destroy my field crops, and at other times [they] would fail due to water scarcity but, with a greenhouse, now our vegetables are safe.”

FOR THE WOMEN

After the Seeds of Hope program, many women took up farming as their main occupation, earning about RS 2,000 - RS 3,000 every month. Today, at least five to seven women in each village have shifted from subsistence farming to commercial farming - and the number is growing. Previously, these women had been completely dependent on their husbands and, with the loss of jobs during Covid, cash had been scarce. Now, they proudly share, they can buy stationery for their kids, pay school fees, and buy necessary household items.

"We all know that challenges often motivate us to be stronger,” said Puspa  from Jaidu, "so I encourage every woman to stand up, to be strong, and never say, 'I can't do this!' Everything is possible when we believe that we can make a difference,” she continues. “Our group of 25 women not only produced enough vegetables for our families, but we also sold the surplus at market. We started our own savings as well. This gave us financial freedom, and along came the confidence of being able to stand up shoulder to shoulder with men in our community, where often women depend on men’s earnings."

Saraswati  from Tingla commented, "Our parents used to farm as well, but farming crops and farming vegetables is different, I realized how many times a year we can harvest vegetables whereas we used to do only one crop a year. Using the help from agriculture experts and good seeds we can produce much more with the same effort. This has been wonderful learning for a farmer like me and everyone here."

Puspa and Saraswati’s stories exemplify just two of the 800 women enrolled in the Seeds of Hope program. The program has been so successful and inspirational for these women that, at the end of the meeting, there was strong encouragement and requests to continue the Seeds of Hope program to reach even more farmers.

How Would You Like to Participate in our 2022 Project?

We invite you, your family, and your community to consider supporting this very important and long-lasting project within the 2022-2023 season. 

Our budget to support a family is USD$200, which will provide a family with more than 10 different kitchen garden seeds; training by an agriculture expert; a greenhouse tunnel; group formations; leadership programs, etc.  Our goal is to benefit over 500 families. On average, each family has six members, so our plan would ultimately benefit over 3,000 individuals.

We hope you will consider helping us with this project that will provide urgently needed assistance as well as a long-term investment in sustainability for needy families of the remote Solukhumbu district.   

Links:

• Seeds of Hope