Sustainable Agriculture & Entrepreneurship
Training for Women
March 22 - April 21, 2021
We have successfully completed the 1st batch of training on Sustainable Agriculture and Entrepreneurship Training (SAAET) for 21 young women of Nepal - most of whom were former child slaves (Kamalari) rescued by Nepal Youth Foundation. The training was sponsored solely by one of our most passionate supporters and a long time donor, the Soarway Foundation.
Education & Empowerment
Edu Farm
The training took place at Nepal Youth Foundation’s Olgapuri Vocational School and the Olgapuri Organic Farm. All the trainees were safely accommodated at the NYF’s own women-only hostel situated in the Olgapuri Village premises.
Hands on
The training was broadly divided into 15 days of intensive training at the Olgapuri Vocational School and the Olgapuri Farm, followed by 15 days of On the Job Training (OJT) back in the trainees own homes/villages.
Training Components
This was an intensive 15 days of full day training at the Olgapuri Vocational School and the Olgapuri Farm. The training curriculum was divided into 40% of theory and 60% of practical skills and contained the following major components:
Introduction to organic farming and its scope
Preparation of nursery
Technical aspects of vegetable farming,
construction and use of plastic greenhouse and
drip irrigation
Production and use of organic fertilizers and pesticides
Disease and pest control
Techniques for site identification & preparation
Soil management and line preparation
Storage and post- harvest loss control
Budgeting and bookkeeping and business plan
Farm management, marketing and
communication
Besides the core training curriculum, additional activities were organized, focusing on empowering the young women with awareness, knowledge and skills:
Goal setting and decision making : 4 hours
Entrepreneurship development : 4 hours
Health and safety : 2 hours
Women Empowerment : 2 hours (Early marriage prevention, domestic violence)
After the first phase of the training at Olgapuri, the girls returned home for the OJT with NYF field mobilizer. On the ground, the trainees were facilitated by a NYF field mobilizer/supervisor to identify appropriate sites for the green house and to construct the green house on the selected site. All the girls were set to receive start-up support, i.e. materials for the construction of the green house (plastic, bamboo and aluminum wire). However, the work has been temporarily held up due to the rising level of corona infections in western Nepal and a subsequent lock down in the region. The NYF field mobilizer will continue to monitor and supervise the trainees and will provide periodic report from the field.
Measurable impact.
The girls who received the training came from agricultural regions in Nepal and most of them are used to working in the family farm using traditional methods. From the training, the girls said they learnt so much about the modern technology and more effective ways to do farming, which they can now apply in their family farm. All of the girls were enthusiastic about going home and building their own green house to start professional farming.
During the feedback session, 100% of the trainees were
found to be satisfied by the overall training: 95% said they found it ‘excellent’ and the remaining 5% said they found it ‘Very Good’. Likewise, 100% of the trainees reported that they felt more confident and their self- esteem had improved overall due to the training. Most of them saw themselves as successful agro- entrepreneurs in the future.
