Nepal
Sapana Village Social Impact (svsi.org) is a non-profit organization, active in the Chitwan region since 2007.
The main goal of the organization is to fight poverty with a focus on improving the living conditions of local people. Besides the project supported (among others) by FEMI, SVSI works on several other projects in the field of education, female entrepreneurship, microfinance and strengthening the Musahar community.
Rural Development Project.
This 3-year integral project” (2020-2023) is modeled after the “learning from the best model” in Peru, a proven concept that FEMI introduced to SVSI in 2016. Through “peer learning” and competitions, the local Chepang community is encouraged to improve their own living conditions in terms of health, housing and certainly income. Following the success of the 3-year project in Siddhi, the follow-up was launched in 2020 in the nearby Kaule region, a hard-to-reach area where living conditions are even worse.
See the short movie
Sarbodaya Nepal, born out of the Italian foundation FRL, has been implementing integral development initiatives in the areas of income enhancement, entrepreneurship, education, food security, health care (especially WASH and SRHR), human rights protection with a focus on women’s & children’s rights and capacity development of local organizations since 2006. In addition to projects in Kavre and Dolakha districts, a local project team “Sarbodaya Jumla” is active in the hard-to-reach, poor area of Jumla (Karnali district, western Nepal).
Gender Equality and Support of Women Farmers project Jumla
The area of Jumla is difficult to access and therefore one of the poorest areas in Nepal. The economy is characterized by small-scale subsistence farming. In recent years, efforts have been made to develop the horticultural sector. Sarbodaya Jumla has been working for years on small-scale integrated projects that focus on women’s empowerment and income improvement. As a follow-up, the various interventions of this 2-year project (2022-2023) will further empower women; increase income and thus improve living conditions. Also, a women’s cooperative will be established; marketing channels established so that horticultural products can be sold outside the district.
The Organic Valley (formerly OMF)
Founded in 2013, TOV (theorganicvalley.com/formerly OMF) aims to become Nepal’s first large, profitable organic ginger processor, offering ginger farmers fair prices and conditions. Meanwhile, TOV, with the help of HRSV and Zero-Kap, has developed into a social enterprise with hard-working, dedicated local staff. TOV buys ginger and turmaric (turmeric) from over 700 farmers who are taught to grow these products organically. In the remote area of Surkhet, TOV not only provides income for these farmers but also provides employment (and thus income) for 100+ factory workers, 80% of whom are young women.
TOV Foundation – “Sapana Ghar” project.
TOV Foundation is a separately established non-profit organization in which community development activities are developed and implemented. “Sapana Ghar” is a one-year project with the goal of establishing a childcare center (for 0-6 year olds) at the factory. With the 80% female, relatively young staff, this will make a huge difference for the continuity of the factory. But especially for the preservation of income and independence of these women making them less vulnerable. Moreover, this childcarecentre offers a good basic education which leads to better progression to primary education.
Small movie dec 2021:
Zero-Kap projects in Nepal
Zero-Kap loan to “mothergroups
As a follow-up to the completed project in Siddhi, small loans have been provided by Zero-Kap to several mother groups to enable them to further expand the goat rearing that was successfully set up during the project.
