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 Improving rural Indian Himalayan livelihoods09.06.2015"The farmers in Nepal are doing extremely well in their honeybee enterprises and niche product making despite extremely challenging situations in their remote locations. When they can perform well regardless of adverse conditions, why can't we go for a larger scale with readily available flora and resources along with favourable market conditions in our situations", Deewan Singh, a farmer from a far flung village in the remote district of Pithoragarh that borders China and Nepal in the North Indian state of Uttarakhand, said after being part of a transboundary visit. The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) and the Central Himalayan Environmental Association (CHEA) organized a five-day visit for the farmers / beekeepers and the staff of the partner organization from the Kailash Sacred Landscape Conservation and Development Initiative (KSLCDI) to India in the second quarter of 2015. The farmers from India visited Alital, a village in the Dadeldhura district of Nepal, which is known for its beekeeping and Chyuri production. Chyura or Chyuri is also known as 'Indian Butter Tree' (diploknema butyracea) as it produces oil seeds, which are rich in oil contents. At a lower temperature the oil transforms into fat and looks like butter (ghee in Hindi). The flowers serve as excellent bee flora.
The main objective of the transboundary visit was to provide the participants with an opportunity to observe the development of community-based beekeeping enterprise, particularly modern beekeeping with the indigenous honeybee (apis cerana), beehives, and Chyuri herbal soap making enterprises and to interact with bee farmers, and learn from their experiences. Altogether 22 participants (19 farmers selected from different pilot villages of KSL by CHEA, in consultation with local groups and communities and ICIMOD, and three CHEA staff) participated in the visit. "Enhancing rural livelihoods requires multiple approaches and the KSLCDI is aiming for transbounadary cooperation to support production of niche products like honey and other Chyura based products" said Dr Pushkin Phartiyal, Executive Director of CHEA. "Sharing on livelihood practices across the borders of Nepal and India has made encouraging impact on the Indian farmers and underlines the increasing value of transboundary cooperation in the region," said Dr Pushkin. According to Dr Uma Pratap, a core member of the livelihood team at ICIMOD, the exposure visit was designed to be an interactive learning experience from the field and reflection and sharing of experiences was encouraged. Chairperson Surat Bahadur Bohora of Alital Multipurpose Cooperative, ICIMOD’s former partner in a beekeeping project, facilitated the visit. |
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