Women Lead Nepal: Part I

Stories of women-led entrepreneurships and leadership success are plentiful in Nepal, but are often not brought to the forefront. 

8 years ago a women's group in the Chisapani Community Forest in Bardaghat Nepal, started producing citronella and lemongrass on 40 hectares of degraded community forest land, saving thousands of Nepali rupees following the distribution of the sales money to women.  Since then the group has been exporting herbal oil to europe, giving back to the community and profiting greatly from their success. 

Another such story is Goma’s. 

Goma, didn’t know the basics of mountain farming. 20 years ago she married a school teacher just like her father, but his salary was not enough to support their family. She decided to start helping her father-in-law in the fields as he patiently taught her the basics of farming on a terraced farm at the edge of a hill. 

The two worked to grow maize, millet, buckwheat and vegetables. Goma then planted two saplings but the yielding of the fruit depended on care rather than numbers. She learned about commercial farming for cauliflower, tomatoes,  and fruits such as litchi and mangos. 

She tackled irrigation issues, animals destroying crops and vegetation. She noticed that an old lemon tree on the farm did not need to be tended to that carefully nor did it need much irrigation.  

Goma and her husband sold the lemon in the market and did small calculations,  and quickly found out that there is a huge demand for lemons, but Nepal was mainly importing lemons from India every year. 

In 2013 they planted 10 saplings. Neighbors ridiculed them and family was not happy with the decision and expected the couple to fail. Goma added more lemon saplings and by the third year, they were selling the first harvest in nearby markets.  

Today her lemons go to Chitwan, Kathmandu, Pokhara, and further afield. Goma sold 10,000 lemon saplings and annual sales of lemons have crossed 9 tonnes giving Goma’s company a profit of over Rs.1.2 million in just 2 years ago. She also sold 150 liters of concentrated lemon juice to test the market and lemon pickle to create value-added products. 

Her eldest son enrolled in University and is now studying Agriculture on full scholarship. Her efforts have been encouraging Nepal to be self-reliant on fruit production. Goma’s story is one of many women led success stories in Nepal. Stay tuned for our part 2 Women Lead Nepal post.