Support 200 Nepalese farmers to become food secure

Since our last report, Nepal, and especially our partner’s area, has been badly affected by heavy torrential rain, landslides, and floods. The village was disconnected from the road access. At the beginning of October, road access was opened; however, the electricity and communication networks were still disconnected. This natural disaster has caused few deaths, animal losses, and property loss in the village. We are attaching some pictures our partner Shree has shared with us. Once the situation has improved, we will continue working on the evaluation phase of the project. 

In the meantime, the team in Nepal is in direct communication with the University of Maryland, making the last modifications to the budget to receive the funding from the Global FEWture Alliance program. This is an international alliance that seeks to alleviate food, water and energy insecurity, protect environmental and global public health and bolster community resilience in a changing climate. Our biochar kiln is one of the projects comprising the Alliance, as it researches the role of biochar as a soil amendment that increases crop yield in a sustainable and climate-friendly manner. If you want to know more about the Global FEWture Alliance and how our project is involved in it, click here.

We hope to bring you good news from Nepal in our next report as the situation alleviates. Thank you for supporting the project!

Work does not cease during summertime, as the project is entering the evaluation phase! During the last weeks since our latest report, the team in Nepal has worked on further developing the work packages for this next stage of the project and finalising the budget. They have applied for the corresponding funding from the University of Maryland as part of their Global FEWture Alliance program, an international alliance that seeks to alleviate food, water and energy insecurity, protect environmental and global public health and bolster community resilience in a changing climate. The alliance aims at advancing systems-based interdisciplinary research-to-action, community-driven capacity building, and experiential education to effect positive change in underserved communities at the nexus of food, energy, water, climate, and health. Our biochar kiln is one of the projects comprising the Alliance, as it researches the role of biochar as a soil amendment that increases crop yield in a sustainable and climate-friendly manner. You can learn more about the Global FEWture Alliance and the involvement of our project in the program here. 

While the budget is being reviewed and funding is confirmed, we are continuing work on the evaluation survey to gather users’ feedback. Together with our partners, we are in the process of translating the survey to Nepali and testing the suitability of Microsoft Access to conduct the surveys. The Nepal team is also preparing and organising for the scientific testing and field trials to start as soon as the funding is approved, and the necessary equipment is in place.  

We hope to bring you great news in our next report as we embark on the evaluation phase. Thank you for supporting the project and we wish you a lovely summer!