Growing Vegetables, Improving Family Nutrition and Livelihoods

Laxmi Thapa, 28 years old, is a resident Bichhya, Bajura, Far West, Nepal. She lives with her husband, and her 3 young children. Their main sources of income is agriculture and daily-wage labour. Her husband travels to India for work and stays there for extended periods of time. The income he earns helps cover household expenses and provides food and other necessities for the children.

As the family has limited farmland, the income and food production is not sufficient to meet all their household needs, including food and clothing.

During a PHASE Nepal programme (supported by PHASE Worldwide), low income households and mothers with children in the first 1,000 days were supported through vegetable farming, seasonal and off-season vegetable farming training, agricultural tools and equipment, and seeds necessary for vegetable production.

Using the knowledge and skills gained through the training, Laxmi Thapa has started cultivating different types of vegetables. She stated that –

‘in addition to consuming the vegetables at home, she has also shared some of the produce with her neighbours and relatives’

incorporating vegetables and leafy greens into the family’s diet has improved the nutrition and health of her children and other family members.’

With the agricultural training, tools, equipment, and seeds provided through the project, she plans to continue vegetable production. She intends to consume fresh vegetables according to the season, sell the surplus produce, and dry and store vegetables for use during the off-season. She also hopes to apply the knowledge gained from the training to produce and preserve seeds herself for future vegetable production.

Laxmi Thapa expressed her happiness at being part of the vegetable-farming program.

If you would like to see more people like Laxmi succeed consider a donation to PHASE Worldwide today