October 31, 2017

Case stories – Nepal

LIVELIHOOD TRAINING

Parvati Dahal said:
“I want our environment to be conserved but I also want environmentally sustainable methods of income generation and livelihoods training to be given to our youth so that they stop leaving home in search of jobs”

Parvati Dahal is one of the 8 Million who were affected by Nepal’s Earthquake of April 29 in 2015. She is a village elder residing in the Chyamrangbesi Village Development Committee (VDC). She represents a growing number of rural inhabitants with an increasing awareness of the social and economic havoc that environmental degradation can cause.

EVD Solution:
Various EVD solutions including micro-irrigation tools, solar water pumps,improved water mills, and hydraulic ram pumps are available to make tremendous improvements in villagers’ agrarian livelihoods. In a country that employs 75 per cent of its population in agriculture and allied sectors, there is vast potential for implementing such technologies in support of agricultural productivity. CRT-Nepal has been giving vocational training to the youth of the area in organic farming and above-mentioned technologies.

 

RENEWABLE ENERGY TECNOLOGY FOR WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

Indra Kumari said:
“Renewable – energy technologies or any other technologies that are brought to enhance the rural livelihood should be able to install a sense of empowerment among women and must be able to provide income generating opportunities for women” 

Mrs. Indra Kumari Gurmachhan is deputy chairman of Improved Water Mill Electrification (IWME), a management committee located in Dahar-8, Ranichuri VDC, Sindhuli. When she remembers days when she had to live in darkness, she feels she is very lucky to see proper lighting available within her lifetime.

EVD Solution:
An IWME project has helped many families to save money that otherwise would have been spent on batteries and kerosene to operate radios and torchlights. In earlier days, the women of the family had only the hours of daylight to prepare meals. Now that they have access to electricity via improved water mills, they can work in the kitchen for longer periods of time, spare some time to chat with their family members, and play with their children. IWME has helped to improve the lifestyle of women in the beneficiary population, and has freed them from having to spend household funds on traditional sources of energy. It also has enabled them to become involved in additional income-generating activities.