Note From Nepal: High-Value Crop Increases Income, Access

Location

Like many of Nepal’s internal migrants, Laxmi Shahi and her family were forced to escape the hilly regions—characterized by long conflict, lack of transportation and limited access to water, electricity, and education—to resettle in Terai, Nepal’s southern flatlands. The family was able to purchase 4 khattas (0.13 hectares) of land, but their remaining money was quickly spent on the treatment of their eldest daughter, who has a severe mental disorder. The cost of treatment virtually left them bankrupt and was compounded by debt incurred from a local moneylender. When Laxmi’s husband, a seasonal laborer and the family’s sole provider, fell ill and could not undertake any physically strenuous activity, Laxmi was left to support the family of five single-handedly.

Although her family had been farmers for generations, Laxmi lacked the knowledge and resources to cultivate crops on their land for income. When she met the field staff of the USAID-supported Business Development Services Marketing, Production and Services (BDS-MaPS) Women Enterprise Program in Banke, she had little technical knowledge, not enough capital, nor any idea how to get started, only a willingness to invest what little money she had to support her family. The team quickly assessed Laxmi’s situation and decided that she should be included in the Women Enterprise income generating program.

Using value chain approaches and supported by local government technical services, the BDS-MaPS field team facilitated the provision of technical knowledge on chili raising from a local input supplier, connected Laxmi with a microfinance institution that provided a Rs 10,000 (US$140) loan, assisted her in the acquisition and installation of a treadle pump, and linked her to a BDS-MaPS market committee aggregating chilies and other high-value products to sell in local markets. With her newly acquired skills and confidence and with a little investment for buying hybrid chili seeds, Laxmi set out to apply what she had learned.

Laxmi started chili cultivation in August 2005 on 2.5 khattas of land (0.08 hectares). After her first season, she realized an income of Rs 24,000 (US$340). Seeing the tremendous income potential, she leased an additional 6 khattas of land (0.2 hectares) to scale-up her production. After a year with the program, Laxmi’s household income increased from Rs 3,000 (US$42) to more than Rs 35,000 (US$500).

The local BDS-MaPS field staff were encouraged by Laxmi’s vigor and dedication and visited occasionally to provide technical support and monitor her progress. During the meetings, Laxmi described how she was surprised to find out that people would pay money for her chili. She had had no idea that chili had any market potential or economic value.

One of the interesting social issues that Laxmi mentioned was the change she saw in her husband’s attitude. She recalls that her husband was very cynical initially about her chili enterprise. Still, Laxmi followed her vision until he witnessed the financial gains. After this, he gradually showed interest in assisting her, and now they work as a team.

Laxmi has proven her capacity as an entrepreneur and is now a full participant in village and group decision making. Her friends and neighbors used to know her as “the quiet person” who was always in a hurry and full of worries. Today she is better known as Khursani Didi, or Chili Lady, in the community. People throng her field to buy chili. She has so many customers coming to her that she has a hard time getting to the markets.

This is not all; Laxmi has invested her income wisely. She has bought irrigation equipment and is now raising goats. She is meeting the expenses of her children's education with ease and has paid off her debts with her surplus income. She is now considered a creditworthy entrepreneur by her savings group and the local microfinance institute; both are now willing to offer her loans.

“I used to dread coming up with Rs 22 (US$3) every month for the central savings fund as a member of the Chisapani Women Self-Help Group,” said Laxmi during a recent visit. “But after my harvest I could afford to contribute Rs 2,000 (US$28) to the group's fund as savings from my income.”

The Women Enterprise Program of the Business Development Services Marketing, Production and Services (BDS-MaPS) project is jointly supported by USAID/Nepal and USAID’s office of Microenterprise Development. BDS-MaPS is implemented by a consortium of NGOs including International Development Enterprises (IDE), Winrock International, Lotus Opportunities, and the Asia Network of Sustainable Agriculture and Bioresources (ANSAB).

Acknowledgments
This publication was produced for review by the U.S. Agency for International Development. It was submitted by Vandhana Allay and Jayendra Rai of BDS-MaPS.

Disclaimer
The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Agency for International Development or the U.S. Government.

File upload

PDF of Note From Nepal: High-Value Crop Increases Income, Access