शुक्रबार, चैत्र १६, २०८०

NEPAL LACKS SYSTEMATIC APPROACH TOWARDSS HANDLING THE GROWING MARKET FOR VEGETABLES

mahatoThe recent news of toxic vegetables taking over the markets and making its way to the homes has alarmed residents of Kathmandu and captured the masses’ attention towards the lack of regulation and monitoring in the use of pesticides. When vegetables at the Kalimati Fruits and Vegetables Market, the largest wholesale market in Kathmandu, were tested for pesticides residue the results showed alarming levels of pesticides in them.The news was immediately picked up by the media, which was followed by consumer outcry for tighter quality control. Agriculture and livestock farming has been a priority area for the government of Nepal to strengthen the country’s tumbling economy. Commercial vegetable farming has been attracting farmers with its high value and short turnover period. To cater to the farmers’ need of high level production, numerous Agro-vet shops have mushroomed across the country.
These community level institutions and technicians have the strongest link with the farmers,however, lack of regulations and monitoring over this burgeoning sector is to be blamed for this catastrophe. When agro-vets fail to provide farmers with crucial knowledge on correct administration procedure for chemical fertilizers and pesticides, they not only harm consumers but also harm the farmer themselves due to exposure to those chemicals. Nepal lacks systematic approach towards handling the growing market for vegetables. Creation of an organized market with consumers having access to information on the products they purchase through labels, brands and certification is the need of the situation.
Now that the consumers are at the tip of their toes there will be high demand for organic produce. Farmers and entrepreneurs need to move rapidly to develop strategies and structures to meet this demand. Once the farmers realize supply gap and the viability of organic produce they will naturally gravitate towards its production. Trainings on organic vegetable farming will be crucial in supporting farmers to teach them how to make organic fertilizers and pesticides from locally available resources such as medicinal herbs, vinegar, garlic, onions and cow urine.
A farmer’s institution such asCooperative which is already a common pro-farmer tool in Nepal can be a fundamental to promote the organic products. Cooperatives are important for two major reasons- encouraging famers to scale up their enterprise by providing easy access to credit and secondly by connecting farmers to the market by providing facilities such as collection centers, marketing their product, connection and negotiating with the traders, etc. These cooperatives should be encouraged to create their own unique brand, label their product, certify and market them to reach this niche markets. Cooperatives that connect famers and consumers through a unique brand of organic vegetables, fruits and staple crops will be likely to earn consumer’s trust and loyalty
This will just be one step towards creating a thriving market which will provide relief from the current crisis of rampant use of chemicals in our food. We will need to continually explore ideas to promote fair trade and bring in other stakeholders to the discussion and encourage them to provide their expertise to solve this problem. For it is problems like these that give birth to new entrepreneurs.
For over 16 years Heifer Nepal has been working with farmers and local communities with focus on building social capital and engaging them in livestock value chain enterprises to improve their family income and nutrition. Trainings on social capital building, group management, improved animal management, organic kitchen garden, fodder/forage management, nutrition, gender justice, reproductive health and HIV/AIDs awareness etc.to equip famers and their familieswith skill and knowledge has been Heifer’s mantra for economic and social prosperity.  On the ground level Heifer works on empowering communities and increasing farmer’s production through trainings and mobilization of Community Agro-Vet Entrepreneurs (CAVEs) while on market level Cooperatives are used as a facility to market farmers’ products to ensure fair price for their produce and collective negotiation power.

– By Dr. Shubh N. Mahato
Country Director
Heifer International Nepal

प्रकाशित मिति: बिहिबार, साउन २९, २०७१