UK co-Director, Morgan Phillips, is in Nepal this month. This is his first diary entry.
I arrived in Nepal on Thursday morning after a long journey via Chengdu in China. I spent the rest of the day catching up with my Nepal co-Director, Richard at his home in Kathmandu.
Friday was spent with Narayan Dhakhal, from Eco Himal Nepal. We visited Appa Sherpa from Nuwa Coffee Estate at this office and roasting facility on the north side of Kathmandu. It was fascinating as ever to talk to Appa about the realities of growing and selling coffee in Nepal. His biggest focus right now is on improving the quality of the coffee Nepali farmers are producing so that it remains consistently high. When it doesn’t, he struggles to export green bean to buyers around the world.
He passed on some tips on how farmers in Solukhumbu can improve their processing operation and what we should do in Nawalparasi as we begin piloting coffee production there in partnership with HICODEF.
Appa also told us that he has started selling roasted coffee beans from Solukhumbu to cafe’s on the trekking route to Everest Base Camp. Trekkers can therefore now drink Solukhumbu grown coffee in Solukhumbu! We’ve organised, through Appa, to promote our film Coffee. Climate. Community in those cafes to give trekkers a chance to learn more about TGT and the coffee they’re drinking.
Yesterday I travelled by jeep with Anisha from Eco Himal and Dinanath Bhandari, a long standing TGT volunteer, to Deusa AFRC, where we’ll be staying for the rest of the week.
This morning, we’re awaiting the arrival of students and teachers from GSIS (the German Swiss International School) who are over here from Hong Kong for their Discovery Week field trip. They are the second group to visit Deusa from GSIS. We’ve got a busy few days planned for them and hoping we might inspire a few to become the climate change adaptation professionals of the future.
GSIS are partnered with TGT and raise money each year for our work in Solukhumbu. We’re just getting ready for their arrival, they will be getting the full welcoming treatment from the amazing team here at the AFRC!