Satellite nurseries extend reach of Deusa AFRC

Deusa AFRC is the central hub for the project work we are enabling in Solukhumbu. As it becomes more and more established it is attracting farmers for further and further away.

They come to the AFRC for training, meetings and to purchase plant seedlings that they take home to grow on their farms and in their kitchen gardens.

The original plant nursery at Deusa AFRC

Bringing the AFRC to the farmers

For many people it is a long, hilly and difficult walk to Deusa AFRC (and back), especially if laden down with a few new plants! So, we wanted a way to bring the AFRC to the farmers.

The solution is the establishment of satellite nurseries in strategically planned locations across Deusa, Waku and neighbouring districts. 

Growing coffee from seed at an AFRC Satellite Nursery in Deusa. 

The satellite nurseries are run by AFRC trained and supervised farmers. They grow plants from seed in Polytunnels and on small plots across their terraced land. The seedlings they produce are sold to nearby farmers providing an income for the nursery owner. A small percentage from each sale also returns to the AFRC to help fund its wider activities. 

So far, five satellite nurseries have been established and they are developing well. Our partners, EcoHimal Nepal have sent us an update on each satellite nursery. 

Progress update from EcoHimal

The five satellite nurseries (two in Deusa; two in Waku; and one in Tingla) are in good condition and are well managed. The farmers running the satellite nurseries are very optimistic and sharing the learning with their neighbors. Three more satellite nurseries are planned for establishment and we have identified potential sites. The current status of 5 satellite nurseries owned by following farmers is as below:

1. Mr. Solahang Rai, Deusa 5: He has established a coffee seedling production nursery and there are about 1,500 seedlings in his nursery. In addition, about 1,000 seedlings of Epilipi, 30 seedlings of Picanuts have been prepared for sale. Also he has grown about 300 seedlings of tomato in his nursery.
    
2. Mr. Youbraj Rai, Deusa 1: In his nursery, about 300 seedlings of orange, about 2,000 saplings of cardamom, about 400 seedlings of guava and approximately 300 seedlings of  Tuni (forest fodder tree) are at place for sale.
    
3. Mr. Harka Rai, Waku 5: He has grown up about 300 seedlings of Badahar (Monkey’s Jackfruit), 200 seedlings of Uttis (Alder), 2,000 seedlings of Badulla Salla (Pinus roxburghii), 200 seedlings of Kimbu (fodders tree) and about 200 seedlings of tomato in his nursery. He is targeting production of about 50,000 seedlings of  Badulla Salla (Pinus roxburghii)  in next season.
    
4. Mr. Bal Bahadur Rai, Waku: He has produced about 500 seedlings of coffee, about 400 seedlings of Kutmero (fodder tree), 200 seedlings of Bakaeno, 200 seedlings of Kimbu and about 150 seedlings of orange.
    
5. Mr. Karna Bahadur Karki, Tingla 7: He has produced about 5,000 seedlings of cardamom, 200 seedlings of Moringa, 100 seedlings of Pomegranate, and about 4,500 vegetable seedlings (cauliflower – 1,700, cabbage-1,300, tomato-1,500)

AFRC Satellite Nursery at Tingla. 

There are plans to establish more satellite nurseries, it is one of the ways we are trying to spread the progress being made in Deusa onto Waku and other neighbouring VDCs in the Dudhkausika Rural Municipality. 

EcoHimal staff monitor the nursery at Deusa AFRC. 

Get involved

Each satellite nursery costs £152 to set up. This covers the cost of equipment including tools, polytunnels and stationary for bookkeeping. It also covers the cost of the seeds the farmers need to get started. Please get in touch if you would like to sponsor a satellite nursery. 

Official recognition

Our NGO partners in Nepal, EcoHimal, have received a letter from Mr. Ashim Rai, Chairperson of Dudhkausika Rural Municipality. 

The Dudhkausika rural municipality is home to around 20,000 people who live across nine VDCs (Village Development Committees). The Glacier Trust (TGT) has thus far focused on two neighbouring VDCs, Deusa and Waku.

Deusa is home to the Agro Forestry Resource Centre that TGT played a big role in establishing. Deusa AFRC has become a hub for Climate Change adaptation; its services are being used by farmers from Deusa, Waku and an increasing number from other VDCs in Dudhkausika. The impact has not got unnoticed.

In his letter (see translated version below), Mr Ashim Rai expresses how much the local authority appreciates the work EcoHimal and TGT have been doing over the last five years. This sort of recognition is fantastic and a real boost for everyone involved in the work. As the letter goes on to say, Mr Ashim Rai, would like TGT and EcoHimal to extend their work to other parts of Dudhkausika. 

We have started to do this, training events (such as the recent coffee training workshop) are open to farmers from across the muncipality and many come from outside of Deusa and Waku to attend these. We have also funded the establishment of plant nurseries that act as 'satellites' of the AFRC. These nurseries, run by AFRC trained farmers, make it easier for farmers to get the plant seedlings they need and advice on how to nurture them. 

The AFRC model is working, as a small charity, our aim is always to pilot and test innovations that enable climate change adaptation in a sustainable way. Deusa AFRC will soon be financially self sufficient, allowing TGT to direct funding to other locations. We believe that the AFRC model can be replicated and encourage other, larger NGOs, to learn from what we are doing and fund similar projects across Nepal. 

Co-operative formed in Deusa

Back in January, our volunteer Meleah, visited Deusa in Solukhumbu to attend a coffee growing and co-operative training event run by our partners EcoHimal and Helvetas. 

Meleah is working with us to create a new film telling the story of the coffee growing revolution that is happening in Deusa and Waku. Below are some of her photo's from the co-operative workshop she attended in Solukhumbu in January.

We have just heard the fantastic news that a new co-operative has now officiallly formed in Deusa! 

A temporary field classroom was constructed to host the two day workshop, which attracted over 50 farmers from across Deusa and Waku. 

Narayan Dhakal from Eco Himal Nepal opens the session. Narayan has given training on organising and running co-operatives across Nepal and in several other countries in the Himalaya and Hindu Kush region.  

A farmer asks a question during the workshop session. 

Workshops in Nepal are not all lectures and note taking. Togetherness is a key value in successful co-operatives. Narayan Dhakal leads an exercise outside to break up the day. 

Participants were provided with stationary to take notes and handbooks to annotate for future reference.  

Participants take a break and share some refreshing local oranges.  

Meleah and Narayan both reported how encouraging it was to see the amount of information the participants were recording, a tangible sign of how engaged they were in the workshop and the co-operative concept.  

Fresh ground coffee, locally grown and delicious. A vital crop for Deusa and Waku as it adapts to climate change. 

We are very happy to report that as a direct result of the training, a Co-operative has now been formed in Deusa!

The Deusa Co-operative that will meet at the Deusa AFRC has 13 members, male and female, from across the community. By coming together in this way, farmers are better able to budget, plan, farm and sell coffee, oranges, banana's and other crops. 

Hari Kumar Kharki, the Eco Himal project officer who is leading on the projects TGT fund in Solukhumbu sent us this photo of the newly formed co-operative who met at the Deusa AFRC on Friday. He assures us that despite the tired looking faces, they are delighted to come together in this way!

Deusa farmers Co-Operative, formed April 2018 at Deusa Agro Forestry Resource Centre (AFRC), Solukhumbu, Nepal. Co-op members are pictured here with family members and staff from Eco Himal and the Deusa AFRC. 

Studies in Kavre

Earlier this month our trustee, Dr Craig Hutton, was in Nepal to attend a conference in Kathmandu. While there, Craig took the opportunity to join our Nepal based Co-Director, Richard Allen, on a field visit to Kavre with our NGO partners Eco Himal and students from Tribhuvan University.

As we relaunch our higher education programme in 2018, we are focusing on supporting Nepali and UK students to study sustainable development and climate change adaptation in the field. This programme will be run as a collaboration between Tribhuvan University (Kathmandu), Eco Himal Nepal (one of our partners NGOs) and Southampton University.

Kavre lies around three hours east of Kathmandu, yet feels very remote, especially towards the top of the hills away from the main roads. It is very dry and still struggling to recover from the 2015 earthquakes that destroyed hundreds of homes, buildings and roads.

The earthquakes also affected many of the springs that families rely on for drinking, irrigation and cooking. Climate Change is exacerbating these problems.

By studying Kavre, its post earthquake recovery and its adaptation to climate change, two Nepali and two UK students will make a valuable contribution to understandings of these issues. Their findings will also inform any future projects work TGT and Eco Himal partner up on to deliver.  

Visiting Kavre - a photo essay

Prior to Craig and Richard's recent visit, Morgan visited Kavre in November 2017. Images from both trips make up this photo essay. 

A view of the Himalaya's from Kavre. (March 2018)

Kavre is very dry, this school playing field is one of the highest in the district. (November 2017)

Crops here are rain fed. The monsoon season is now shorter and more unpredictable, presenting huge challenges for farmers. (November 2017)

Chemical pesticide use, to protect crops from insects, is common in Kavre. For the individual farmer, in the short term it makes sense, longer term it could be catastrophic to local ecological systems. (March 2018)

The earthquake caused a lot of damage in Kavre, here we can see a crack in the wall of the school, straight through the Nepali national anthem. (November 2017)

Slowly, schools are under reconstruction. Until they are finished students cram into the classrooms that weren't completely destroyed. These have been deemed safe enough for use, in many cases only just. (November 2017)

Dr. Craig Hutton and Tribhuvan University student, Amrit in discussion at one of the schools that is being rebuilt. (March 2018)

The rebuilding process, for homes and schools has been very slow, nearly three years on from the earthquakes, building work is only just beginning for some. (March 2018)

Many families are still living in what should have been temporary shelters. Due to the altitude these homes get very cold in winter, this is putting a lot of strain on the surrounding woodlands as trees are chopped down for fuel. (November 2017) 

Eco Himal Nepal are working in Kavre and will help to co-ordinate the Higher Education programme in June 2018. Here, from left to right are Narayan, Anisha, Laxmi (who works in Kavre full time) and Keshab. (March 2018)

Tribhuvan University have selected two MSc students, Sarasati and Amrit who will study the impact of the earthquakes on societal structures in Kavre. They will also act as interpreters to support two MSc students from Southampton University. Together they will spend much of June 2018 in Kavre studying for their dissertations. (March 2018)

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We believe education to be a vital in enabling Nepal to adapt to the impacts of climate change and become more resilient to any future earthquakes. 

As climate change deepens, we will need a growing number of professionals with the skills and knowledge to enable adaptation across the whole Himalaya's. They will come from Nepal and the wider world. Our higher education programme makes a valuable contribution to this training effort. 

The Glacier Trust, with your help, can build the capacity of the next generation of adaptation specialists in Nepal.

Our programme supports Nepali students to carry out in-depth field research, which they might otherwise not be able to afford. In 2018 students from Tribhuvan University will be collaborating with students from Southampton University in a process of shared and reciprocal learning. If you would like to support our work in this area, please make donation to The Glacier Trust today. 

International Women's Day

Today we celebrate International Women's Day and would like to introduce you to Nun Maya. 

When we visited Deurali in November, we met Nun Maya and her two young children. They had just bought a simple water sprinkler with help from our local NGO partners HICODEF. It is all part of the climate change adaptation project TGT is funding there.

TGT and HICODEF generally don’t go in for tech ‘solutions’; they often require power (and therefore fossil fuels) and farmers can run into trouble trying to service and maintain them. But low-tech, labour-saving and emission free bits of kit can make a big difference. Nun Maya told us that the sprinkler saves her around two hours a day. That adds up to 600+ hours a year, around 50 working days! 

Those extra 50 days will make an extraordinary difference; imagine if you were suddenly given two hours more a day?! Nun Maya is putting the hours saved to use developing and expanding her farm. HICODEF are training her in growing new crops and marketing them in the local town, she is already growing tomato, cauliflower, cabbage and peas. She hopes to become a commercial farmer and seems to be well on the way. Her first aim is to recoup the 20,000 rupee investment she has made in the irrigation equipment. After that, she wants to take on some staff to help during busy periods. 

As a lead farmer, Nun Maya is inspiring and motivating other women in Deurali. Watching her children's pure delight at running through the sprinkler water, she is no doubt inspiring the next generation too!  

Broom grass harvest

Climate Change has made rainfall more intense and unpredictable across the Himalaya. This causes no end of trouble during the wet summer months. Landslides, big and small, are common during the Monsoon, they block roads and pile up against buildings. Occasionally if you are in the wrong place at the wrong time they can be deadly.

This clip from Greg Davies and Rhod Gilbert's BBC show The World's Most Dangerous Roads series is a good illustration of the problem. 

A low cost adaptation is happening in the all the mountain communities we work in. On steep and vulnerable slopes, farmers plant 'Broom' grass. The roots of this fast growing crop bind soils and help stabilise slopes. Simple yet effective. The great thing about this crop is that it is multi-use. As the name suggests, the grass can be turned into a broom. These are sold locally and at markets. The leaves can also be used as fodder for livestock. 

February harvest

Our NGO partners in Deurali HICODEF have been in touch to tell us that farmers were busy harvesting in February. In Dhahaba 550 KGs of the crop has been collected; in nearby Durlunga Baseni farmers have harvested 450 KGs.

After picking, the grass is stored and dried in bundles. 

Once dry, the bundles are turned into brooms and made ready for sale. Farmers can expect to earn around 90 Nepali Rupees per KG for their Broom grass and a little bit more if they make them into Brooms themselves. 

Almost every household in the mountains has a broom and they keep their houses immaculate.  

Support our Climate Change adaptation work in Deurali by donating to TGT today. 

Project reports

For full transparency we publish reports received from our NGO partners on our Project Articles and Reports page. Our three latest reports have just been uploaded. They are also linked to here:

HICODEF (November 2017): Enhancing Community Capacities for Learning and Adaptation to Climate Change (ECCLA), Quarter 2 report (November 2017 - January 2018)

Eco Himal (December 2017): Integrated Sustainable Tree Cropping and AFRC Programme, Narrative Progress Report (Sep 2017 to November 2017)

Eco Himal (December 2017): An Environment Conservation Pilot Project - Improved Cooking Stove (ICS), Project Progress Report (July - November 2017)

Transporting stoves to Sankhuwasabha

Later this month, Narayan Dhakal, from our NGO partner EcoHimal Nepal, will set off to the villages of Hatiya and Chepuwa in remote district of Sankhuwasabha, near Nepal’s border with Tibet. Ahead of his visit we have put together on a short photo essay charting the journey of thirty ‘improved’ cooking stoves from a factory in Kathmandu to the high-altitude mountains of eastern Nepal.

Traditionally in Nepal and throughout the Himalaya, open fires are used to cook and heat homes. This creates two significant problems. Most immediately, homes are regularly filled with smoke causing long term damage to the lungs of adults and children. Secondly, wood burns faster on an open fire, leading to a high demand for wood and therefore deforestation and loss of habitat at an unsustainable rate. Having witnessed these problems first hand, our founder Robin Garton, worked on a solution with Narayan from EcoHimal Nepal. The project they conceived is now a reality.

Robin and Narayan worked closely with the local community to explain the potential benefits of cooking stoves with enclosed hearths and chimney’s. The community put faith in Robin and Narayan to identify the right kind of stove and agreed to find thirty homes willing to install and trial the new stoves. TGT funded the purchase, delivery and monitoring of thirty stoves. After several delays and false starts the stoves finally arrived in Hatiya and Chepuwa in September 2017. This photo essay charts their journey from Katmandu via trucks, tractors and strong Nepali sholders to the Nepal/Tibet border.  

The stoves were transported by road from Kathmandu to Khandbari by lorry, a two day journey along Nepal's hectic trunk roads. 

The stoves were stored for three days in Khandbari, at this point they had not yet been assembled. 

Some of the stoves were damaged on the long and bumpy journey, these chimney parts were repaired before the next leg of the journey. 

After Khandbari, the road becomes a dirt track, so the stoves were transferred to a tractor and trailer for the next leg of the journey. 

Eventually the road becomes a path and the tractor cannot go any further. The stoves were unloaded, stored temporarily and readied for collection. From this point the stoves need to be carried by hand.

It takes two people to carry one stove, so 60 men and women make the trek down to the road head to collect their stoves. The trek down took at least two days, for some it was a four day walk.

The long walk begins. For those living the furthest from the road, this will take six days. They carry the stove parts every step of the way.    

Unsurprisingly, breaks to eat, rest and sleep are essential on a journey like this. The convoy make regular stops as they climb.  

The thirty stoves are spread across several clusters of five or six houses. There is huge interest at each location. Dawa, EcoHimal's officer in the field was trained in how to assemble and install the stoves back in Kathmandu. He spent time assembling one or two stoves in each location and taught others householders as he went to ensure they were all correctly installed. 

A stove finally installed in a home in Chepuwa. Note the blackened wall behind the stove, this is a result of the soot from the open fire that has burned here for generations before, with the introduction of these stoves, black walls will become a thing of the past. 

Once installed the stoves are put to use, they simultaneously heat the room, while also warming up water for tea and noodles. 

It will take a little time for families to get used to the correct way to use their stoves. Here is an example of a stove that has been left with the door open. Like the log burners we are used to in the UK, the door needs to be shut for maximum efficiency. Our EcoHimal officers in Sankhuwasabha continue to educate householders on how to use their stoves. 

Finally, here is installed and operational stove chimney in Hatiya. Thanks to the more efficient way the stoves burn wood, the forest we can see in the background will be easier to sustain. 

More news will follow in March, once Narayan Dhakal from EcoHimal Nepal has returned from his monitoring visit to Sankhuwasabha. We hope that the stoves are working well and that their owners are happy with them. 

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Narayan's visit later this month marks the end of the the first pilot phase of this project, we plan to continue testing the stoves and would like to raise funds to send more stoves to this extremely remote location. It costs £220 to provide a stove, transport it to Sanhkhuwasabha and equip each household with a user manual and basic training. If you would like to help fund a stove (or several), please get in touch. 

Farmer Field Schools underway in Deurali

Right now in Deurali across three villages, Dhabaha, Satakun and Durlunga, our NGO partners HICODEF are running farmer field schools. 93 farmers are now involved (44 men, 49 women), thirty more than last year. They are learning agriculture, water management and other climate change adaptation measures. Surbir Sthapit (HICODEF Director) sent us this outline of what is being learned as we move into spring.  

The classes run using participatory techniques as much as possible. The facilitator organizes games, singing, dancing etc to make the class interesting and lively.  After the class all the participants and facilitators visit demo plot to observe and carry out practical exercises such as nursery bed preparation, weeding, pest control etc. There are three technical agriculture apprentices in each location, who also attend the Farmer Field School classes. They have roles and responsibility to look after ten farmers each to apply the knowledge and skill in the farm in practical manner. The field schools are focusing on organic vegetable farming as much as possible. The farmers have gained knowledge and skill on modern agriculture techniques like polytunnel with mulching technology and use of sprinkle irrigation - a very adaptive method to climate change. Vegetables grow in the tunnel throughout the year, as it maintains optimal growing temperature.

We have been enabling climate change adaptation in Deurali for just over two years now, here are some of the outcomes in the latest project period:

• A total of 9.38 hector land are used for vegetable farming; there was no practice of vegetable cultivation here before.
• Between October 2017 and January 2018, 60,000 kg of vegetables have been produced.
• In total farmers have earned 302,555 Nepali rupees from this production.
• One farmer, Uttan Khachaha is the highest earner, with 58,400 Nepali rupees generated from sales in this period.
• Not all vegetables produced are then sold. Since October, 11,000 kg of vegetable have been consumed by households in the project areas, improving diets and overall health.

Mrs Gopiram Rajali prepares her tomato crop for transportation to market. 

Apprentice agricultural technician monitors tomato crop in Durlunga.  

Pipal Sara polytunnel farming in Sartakun. Each polytunnel costs £45 to construct, we want to provide five more for Deurali farmers in 2018.

The Glacier Trust provides funding for construction of rainwater harvesting in Deurali. As rainfall patterns change and the dry season extends, this simple technology is becoming increasingly important. 

Last minute adjustments to crate of Cauliflower before they are loaded in jeeps and transported to market. 

How you can help

The adaptations we are enabling in Deurali are still in their early stages and demand for farmer field schools, farming equipment and water management is growing. 

Polytunnels cost around £45 and we want to provide five more of these to farmers in Deurali in 2018. A monthly donation of £3.75 will provide one Polytunnel. Simple but very effective.