As a result of industrial agriculture and the increasing import of rice seeds from India and China, Nepal is losing its ancestral agricultural methods, including the cultivation of local seeds. This situation has led to an increase in food insecurity in remote villages.
Karuna-Shechen is working to help rural communities affected by the 2015 earthquakes by teaching villagers to grow organic food using traditional techniques and seeds specific to their region. To accomplish this efficiently we are working with LEAD, a local organization, to teach villagers how to grow diverse organic food specific to their region.
A trainer holds buckwheat seeds. Buckwheat grows specifically in the Himalayas. But, in many parts of the country, its cultivation has been replaced by rice and other commercial staples.
Too many rural Nepali men have not been able to find employment and are leaving their homeland to work in the Middle-East and other Asian countries. Women are now the main agricultural workforce in many parts of the country and our program and training sessions are geared to them.
Our new training documentary features local villages and a well-known Nepali actress, Melina Manandhar, to the delight of the trainees and the audience! We also provide them with a training manual to expand the information in the video.
Our trainer teaches a villager how to prepare natural pesticides and compost as part of the documentary.
Our program teaches villagers invaluable traditional skills such as how to select and preserve the best seeds, soil management techniques, how to make organic pesticides, fertilizers, and compost, and much more.
The women and their families learn how to organically plant and maintain a small patch of land. When they have mastered these techniques and can grow enough to feed themselves, they can start increasing their cultivation and eventually sell their organic products to earn extra income. We are implementing this project in 12 districts gravely affected by the 2015 earthquakes.
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