Creating demand for organic products in domestic, urban developing markets
Locally grown organic vegetables and crops are a dire need to the consumers nowadays in urban areas. Making such products easily available via farmers market will lure more consumers to visit and buy the products. As a result, the increment of the consumers in the market creates more demand for the local, fresh and organic produces, which shall finally boost the farmers to gear up in the production of more vegetables, fruits, cereals and lentils.
The growing popularity of consuming organic products in Nepal's urban areas
A growing interest in healthy "superfoods" such as Avocado and Moringa products
The Jasrame households' readiness to meet the demand in the nearby city along with the capital city
The growth of healthy food consumers I experienced myself in our capital city, Kathmandu, along with the major urban areas of the country.
Through research based on "Knowledge, Attitude and Practice" surveys, I learned that the vast majority (over 95%) of small scale farmers is the intervention area where already de facto organic, but none had taken measures to obtain certification and link to urban markets
Establishing a value chain for remote smallholder farmers
Productive hilly land, surrounded by green forests (habitat of wild animals) and interested farmers to shift to commercial organic farming households are a boon to our initiative. The farming of the regular crops, fruits and vegetables such as maize, millet, buckwheat, cauliflower, tomato, turmeric, jackfruit, mango, etc. will be promoted to grow in volume. Also, some high value crops such as kiwi, avocado, chia seed and moringa shall be introduced in the second phase. These products will be directly linked to the closest city areas through farmers markets once and/or twice a week. Consequently, the direct connection of local farmers’ organic produces to the consumers via farmers markets will establish trust and a positive relationship.
The support provided by IFOAM - Organics International and Rare in the form of hands-on capacity trainings has motivated the community and increased interest in commercial organic farming. Linking these de facto organic farmers to markets will enable the shift into commercial organic farming, which will promote their income generation along with conserving their ecology.
I see huge zeal in the community to uplift their status through commercial organic farming more along with conserving the biodiversity. Establishing personal connections and enabling interpersonal communication about organic through a variety of engaging tools such as songs, billboards, plays and religious texts has helped inspire the community.
Through a dynamic multi-stakeholder dialogue process, the project provided a platform to resolve conflict among stakeholders and to re-invest in institutions. It also helped stakeholders come together, build consensus and co-develop alternative solutions to the challenges they face.
Also, by organising the illegal loggers into groups, it was easier to work with them, including ensuring their support needs were being met.
The project brought diverse stakeholders within the forest sector together to negotiate viable options for dealing with chainsaw milling, which had become synonymous with illegal logging.
By providing a pathway for the illegal loggers to engage in legitimate business operations, notably artisanal mining, it provided an alternative livelihood option and an incentive for them to participate, which had numerous positive impacts.
