Where rivers run dry, landless farmers benefit: vegetables from riverbeds

Ms. Katharina Schiller, a master student from Hohenheim University, is investigating the sustainability of riverbed farming in the Indo-Gangetic plains (the Terai) of southern Nepal, in collaboration with Helvetas Nepal. 

After the monsoon season, rivers run dry again, giving landless and land-poor farmers, as well as those whose arable lands have been lost to siltation from floods, an opportunity to use the dry riverbeds for vegetable farming. 

Ms. Schiller has been in Nepal since late March. After spending a week meeting stakeholders from the Riverbed Farming Alliance in Kathmandu, she went to Dhangadhi, in the southwest corner of Nepal, to do the bulk of her field work. There, she met stakeholders at the local government level before beginning regular trips to meet with riverbed farming groups in the two westernmost districts of the Terai, Kailali and Kanchanpur. Most groups she has met have been composed of Tharu (indigenous) people, and a large percentage have been female farmers. These represent two of the most disadvantaged groups in the Terai. 

In the riverbed farming program, riverbed land is leased to groups of farmers. The groups receive lessening amounts of inputs for 3 years. Technological training through Local Resource Persons continues after the project phases out. The groups Ms. Schiller has met have been farming in the riverbeds for several years now and report very positive results. The income from the sales of vegetables have allowed them to increase their household's year-round access to food, purchase arable land, open new businesses, and invest in their children's education. Eating patterns have changed, with all farmers interviewed thus far reporting that they eat much more vegetables now than in the past. Most groups also mentioned a reduction in male out-migration to seek employment in urban centers of Nepal or India. 

The success of riverbed farming is evident from the high level of replication of the technology by other villagers (spill over effect), clearly visible in adjacent fields. 

Ms. Schiller is looking forward to continuing to meet riverbed farming groups in the next weeks. 

Photos: Katharina Schiller

Chamomile is in the air - The sustainability of low volume, high-value essential oils from the hills of Nepal

Ms Chelsea Johnson, a master student from the University of Hohenheim, conducts a validation study on distillation units promoted by one of SATNET Asia’s Associates, IDE in Nepal. The aim is to examine the sustainability of this technology. Since 15 March 2013, she visited distillers in Lahitpur district (a hilly region, 24 km from Kathmandu) and Banke district (terai region, 27 km from Nepalgunj) and discussed with unit managers and technical experts about the different sustainability aspects of the distillation units. Currently, the second chamomile harvest of the year is happening in the terai and wintergreen processing is going on in the hills.

Nepal has a unique climate and landscape which makes it suitable for growing aromatic plants and processing essential oils. Low-volume, high-value products such as essential oil can supplement income for some of the poorest groups in Nepal. Distillation is an economical method of extracting essential oil from aromatic plant material which can be carried out with simple equipment close to the site of plant production. Even in remote locations large quantities of material can be processed in a short time. The photo on the right shows community members bringing winter green to the distillation unit.

In initial interviews conducted by Chelsea Johnson, barriers to the success of production have been acknowledged: the volatility of market prices of essential oils and the ability of farmers to act accordingly, lack of year-round processing, and competition from neighboring India. However, with technical support and farmer training in understanding market dynamics, the essential oil production can continue to grow. The photo on the left shows Mr. Harka Bahadur Bista, distillation unit manager, takes a look at a freshly processed chamomile essential oil.

Because the distillers are owned by community forest groups, the profits from the sale of essential oils goes to a community fund which pays for services such as roads and schools. Decisions about which plants to grow on community land must be made as a group, and over-harvesting is not possible because the community enforces guidelines set by Nepal’s Department of Forests.

In the upcoming weeks, Ms Johnson will interview farmers, distillation unit managers, and essential oil buyers to gain further insight to some of the barriers of sustainability. 

Photos:  Chelsea Johnson