The number of Nepali migration workers has been increasing over the past many years, and in the years 2008 to 2017, approx. 3.5 million work permits for Nepalese who dreamed of creating a better future for their families. Nepal is therefore also one of the countries that receive the most money from working family members abroad. Remittances account for one third of Nepal's GDP and have almost tripled since the beginning of the 2000s. 

This trend - or necessity, as you might call it, is also evident when visiting the project villages of Gunjara, Lewade and Phallapani. Migration among male family members is high, as employment opportunities in the local area are few.

With the project Enhancing rural livelihoods project in Nepal we help create new opportunities in the local areas, which has helped to secure the men's presence in the project villages, and a belief that you can create the opportunities yourself.

Vellykket træning af lokale nepalesere i økologisk landbrug

Bhanubhakta Dahal lives with his wife, two children and his old mother in the village of Lewade. The family is poor and it has been difficult for Bhanubhakta to provide for his family due to his low income from work in the village. He says he has worked in the Gulf countries to ensure his family's survival. Although he went abroad to work, he has not been able to make enough money to repay the loan he had taken from a local seller to pay his travel expenses. Bhanubhata has no education or specific skills, which made his income in the Gulf countries low. When Bhanubhakta returned to Nepal in mid-2018, he had plans to go back to the Gulf countries to work again as he could not see income opportunities in Nepal. He says he was very frustrated in the time after his return home and the thoughts of the future and his family's survival. He attended a training session about nursery management, which was organized by CHILDREN-Nepal as part of the project Enhancing rural livelihoods project in Nepal. Dette motiverede ham til at deltage i flere projektaktiviteter og han blev udvalgt af landsbyen til at deltage i en studietur, som tog en gruppe af projektdeltagerne til Kavre, Bhaktapur og Lalitpur med det formål at besøge andre økologiske landmænd, som havde haft succes med deres økologiske landbrug. Bhanubhakta fortæller, at besøget lærte ham om økologisk landbrug, samt hvordan man holder kvæg som en del af landbruget.

Efter sin deltagelse i studieturen startede Bhanubhakta med at dyrke økologiske grøntsager og holde køer og bøfler. Han anlagde en lille stald i ruinerne af sit hus, som blev ødelagt under jordskælvet i 2015. Han genbrugte materialerne fra sit gamle hus til at bygge stalden op og registrerede kort tid efter et lokalt selskab for sit landbrug med det formål at blive godkendt af den lokale regering. Bhanubhakta har nu tre bøfler, som giver mælk, og han er begyndt at sælge mælken og tjene penge på det. Han er meget motiveret for at holde sin lille forretning kørende og han har bestemt sig for at satse på den i stedet for at tage tilbage til Golflandene.

In the village of Gunjara, Ram Chandra has also decided to stay because of the project and the opportunities it has created. Ram had previously worked for six years in the Gulf countries and his original plan was to go back there, but then the village selected him to be a change agent and a first-person. He took part in a study tour that inspired him a lot, and he planned to make compost, grow tomatoes and collect rainwater. Ram is already in full swing with all things and he is very motivated to create good organic farming.

The Enhancing rural livelihoods project has been running for a year and a half and it has already created new opportunities for the farmers in Nepal. All project participants have converted their farming to organic farming and have started growing new crops with great success. We look forward to visiting the project villages again at the start of the new year and to see the developments that have occurred since the last.