A victory over Mugu’s harsh climate and stigma through CFS
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Authors
Narayan Ghimire
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en
en
en
Keywords
Agriculture , Climate Change
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Abstract
Ram Maya Rokaya, 40, is a resident of Patarkhola of Gumgadi Municipality in Mugu District. She is a single woman who took challenge despite social stigmatisation and stood out as a leader farmer of Mugu District. Ram Maya who got married as a child at age of 15, had four children. Not only she was a full time domestic and agriculture labour for her husband’s family, she was also living a life full of verbal and physical abuse. Because of constant physical violence by her husband during her married years, her body muscles still gets hurt and she has continued to take medical treatment until now. Ten years of atrocities, suppression and disdain later, she finally decided to leave her husband and move to her parental home in 2010. Her parents supported her with 8 Ropani (1 hectare = 19.65 Ropani) land which was barren and had no access to irrigation at all.
The highland of Mugu where Ram Maya hails from is bountiful in its natural beauty but this place does not offer an easy survival. Blanketed under layers of snow in the winter, Ram Maya’s home village faces temperature below zero Degrees Celsius for four to six months every year. She started farming vegetables with all intermediary knowledge she had. There is no regular and convenient means of transportation facilities in her area; so she used to put all vegetables in a bamboo basket and take it to market of Gamgadi for sales shouldering the load in her back. She continued small scale vegetable trade for three years. The small kitchen garden she started in 2013 was not giving her the yield compared to her hard work.
However in 2016, her farming took a new course after she became part of the climate field school run by BICAS project. With 19 other fellow farmers in the CFS, she learnt about climate change impact on the farming system and climate adaptive practices for improved farming. Climate field school brought about considerable change in her knowledge about drying water sources and ways to retain water and improved irrigation technologies. She learnt about the improved seeds for commercial farming and farming techniques in poly houses as per seasonal change. Considering her potential and dedication, project team decided to support her with a plastic tank of 1,000 l capacity which can be used during dry periods. With her new knowledge on battling harsh weather conditions of Mugu and through support from BICAS, she installed pipes to bring water from 200 meter distance, garden pipes to supply water from tank to vegetable farm, and sprinkler to spray water and greenhouses for off-seasonal production. Through CFS, Ram Maya had better understanding on vegetable farming and harvesting.
Due to her affiliation in CFS, Ram Maya has now expanded her farm to 11 Ropanis taking 3 more Ropani land in lease. After the support of the project, her income increased by more than five folds only by selling organic vegetables in 2016. In 2017 alone, she earned NPR 40,000 by selling only seedlings of different vegetables, which was year round profit of previous years. In 2018, her total income already reached about half a million rupees. Her income has supported two of her children to go to boarding school while her family’s living standard has tremendously changed. With no hesitation, she can now spend part of her income in her treatment at better hospitals. Because she has made a better saving, she has also invested in a horse now to transport the vegetables; this has reduced her drudgery dramatically and helped her meet market demand smoothly as well. Besides, she has also found new avenues for her business. She has started rearing rabbits which feed upon the spare vegetables from her garden, giving her a very good income. CFS has not only helped Rama Maya become a successful farmer by helping her tackle climate fragility but has supported her to stand out as an independent entrepreneur in such stigmatised context.
Ram Maya Rokaya, 40, is a resident of Patarkhola of Gumgadi Municipality in Mugu District. She is a single woman who took challenge despite social stigmatisation and stood out as a leader farmer of Mugu District. Ram Maya who got married as a child at age of 15, had four children. Not only she was a full time domestic and agriculture labour for her husband’s family, she was also living a life full of verbal and physical abuse. Because of constant physical violence by her husband during her married years, her body muscles still gets hurt and she has continued to take medical treatment until now. Ten years of atrocities, suppression and disdain later, she finally decided to leave her husband and move to her parental home in 2010. Her parents supported her with 8 Ropani (1 hectare = 19.65 Ropani) land which was barren and had no access to irrigation at all. The highland of Mugu where Ram Maya hails from is bountiful in its natural beauty but this place does not offer an easy survival. Blanketed under layers of snow in the winter, Ram Maya’s home village faces temperature below zero Degrees Celsius for four to six months every year. She started farming vegetables with all intermediary knowledge she had. There is no regular and convenient means of transportation facilities in her area; so she used to put all vegetables in a bamboo basket and take it to market of Gamgadi for sales shouldering the load in her back. She continued small scale vegetable trade for three years. The small kitchen garden she started in 2013 was not giving her the yield compared to her hard work. However in 2016, her farming took a new course after she became part of the climate field school run by BICAS project. With 19 other fellow farmers in the CFS, she learnt about climate change impact on the farming system and climate adaptive practices for improved farming. Climate field school brought about considerable change in her knowledge about drying water sources and ways to retain water and improved irrigation technologies. She learnt about the improved seeds for commercial farming and farming techniques in poly houses as per seasonal change. Considering her potential and dedication, project team decided to support her with a plastic tank of 1,000 l capacity which can be used during dry periods. With her new knowledge on battling harsh weather conditions of Mugu and through support from BICAS, she installed pipes to bring water from 200 meter distance, garden pipes to supply water from tank to vegetable farm, and sprinkler to spray water and greenhouses for off-seasonal production. Through CFS, Ram Maya had better understanding on vegetable farming and harvesting. Due to her affiliation in CFS, Ram Maya has now expanded her farm to 11 Ropanis taking 3 more Ropani land in lease. After the support of the project, her income increased by more than five folds only by selling organic vegetables in 2016. In 2017 alone, she earned NPR 40,000 by selling only seedlings of different vegetables, which was year round profit of previous years. In 2018, her total income already reached about half a million rupees. Her income has supported two of her children to go to boarding school while her family’s living standard has tremendously changed. With no hesitation, she can now spend part of her income in her treatment at better hospitals. Because she has made a better saving, she has also invested in a horse now to transport the vegetables; this has reduced her drudgery dramatically and helped her meet market demand smoothly as well. Besides, she has also found new avenues for her business. She has started rearing rabbits which feed upon the spare vegetables from her garden, giving her a very good income. CFS has not only helped Rama Maya become a successful farmer by helping her tackle climate fragility but has supported her to stand out as an independent entrepreneur in such stigmatised context.
Ram Maya Rokaya, 40, is a resident of Patarkhola of Gumgadi Municipality in Mugu District. She is a single woman who took challenge despite social stigmatisation and stood out as a leader farmer of Mugu District. Ram Maya who got married as a child at age of 15, had four children. Not only she was a full time domestic and agriculture labour for her husband’s family, she was also living a life full of verbal and physical abuse. Because of constant physical violence by her husband during her married years, her body muscles still gets hurt and she has continued to take medical treatment until now. Ten years of atrocities, suppression and disdain later, she finally decided to leave her husband and move to her parental home in 2010. Her parents supported her with 8 Ropani (1 hectare = 19.65 Ropani) land which was barren and had no access to irrigation at all. The highland of Mugu where Ram Maya hails from is bountiful in its natural beauty but this place does not offer an easy survival. Blanketed under layers of snow in the winter, Ram Maya’s home village faces temperature below zero Degrees Celsius for four to six months every year. She started farming vegetables with all intermediary knowledge she had. There is no regular and convenient means of transportation facilities in her area; so she used to put all vegetables in a bamboo basket and take it to market of Gamgadi for sales shouldering the load in her back. She continued small scale vegetable trade for three years. The small kitchen garden she started in 2013 was not giving her the yield compared to her hard work. However in 2016, her farming took a new course after she became part of the climate field school run by BICAS project. With 19 other fellow farmers in the CFS, she learnt about climate change impact on the farming system and climate adaptive practices for improved farming. Climate field school brought about considerable change in her knowledge about drying water sources and ways to retain water and improved irrigation technologies. She learnt about the improved seeds for commercial farming and farming techniques in poly houses as per seasonal change. Considering her potential and dedication, project team decided to support her with a plastic tank of 1,000 l capacity which can be used during dry periods. With her new knowledge on battling harsh weather conditions of Mugu and through support from BICAS, she installed pipes to bring water from 200 meter distance, garden pipes to supply water from tank to vegetable farm, and sprinkler to spray water and greenhouses for off-seasonal production. Through CFS, Ram Maya had better understanding on vegetable farming and harvesting. Due to her affiliation in CFS, Ram Maya has now expanded her farm to 11 Ropanis taking 3 more Ropani land in lease. After the support of the project, her income increased by more than five folds only by selling organic vegetables in 2016. In 2017 alone, she earned NPR 40,000 by selling only seedlings of different vegetables, which was year round profit of previous years. In 2018, her total income already reached about half a million rupees. Her income has supported two of her children to go to boarding school while her family’s living standard has tremendously changed. With no hesitation, she can now spend part of her income in her treatment at better hospitals. Because she has made a better saving, she has also invested in a horse now to transport the vegetables; this has reduced her drudgery dramatically and helped her meet market demand smoothly as well. Besides, she has also found new avenues for her business. She has started rearing rabbits which feed upon the spare vegetables from her garden, giving her a very good income. CFS has not only helped Rama Maya become a successful farmer by helping her tackle climate fragility but has supported her to stand out as an independent entrepreneur in such stigmatised context.
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