After a two and a half hour long trip, up the side of a mountain, along a bumpy track I reached the District Livestock Services Office in Besisahar. After meeting the team we went to visit a local dairy. I was staggered to find out that any milk produced here will be transported using the local bus along the potholed road we’d just travelled on!
Having visited more than a dozen dairies since arriving in Nepal, my questioning process is pretty slick. It needs to be since we hurry along as the evening draws in. There are 17 cows in the herd, with 13 ‘in milk’, and daily production is just 70 litres. There is no lack of enthusiasm on this farm, which has been set up for just over a year, but as we talk I discover that many of the cows, despite their stage in lactation and low yield are not yet in calf. This is a very worrying sign for the future.
Simon with new partner Krishna
Firstly I want to say a big thank you for your generous support – I wouldn’t be here helping farmers in Nepal without you.
Meeting my placement partners
During my initial visits to farmers and processors we have identified needs and areas where change would be welcomed. My challenge is going to be making sure these changes are long lasting and create sustainable solutions. Krishna Olija (in the picture above) runs a small dairy and promotes organic farming, and he has strong links with VSO Nepal and has been instrumental in finding my placement partners. He has arranged meetings and added the essential explanations of VSO’s work and the role of the professional volunteer, which my language skills could not attempt.
Improving milk quality and quantity
Thank you so much for choosing to help some of the world’s most vulnerable people get life changing support. Gifts like yours will very soon be helping me to help farming families in Nepal find new ways to make the most of their resources.
It has long been an ambition of mine to put the skills that I have acquired over years of experience in farming in the UK to work with marginalised communities. We have access to all sorts of technology and equipment on UK farms, but wherever you are in the world there are simple things that all farmers need to run a successful farm.
Weather extremes and even slight changes in rainfall are some of nature’s biggest challenges. Around the world, even at home in Somerset, we have seen the shocking effects that unpredictable weather can have on farmers. Add to that the ever changing market place putting economic pressure on farmers and it is easy to see why those working on the brink of poverty really need our help to overcome these challenges. I’ll be using my experience to support farmers in one of the poorest countries in Asia, Nepal, where the majority of the population relies on agriculture for an income.
I’ll be in touch soon with more about agriculture in Nepal and what I’ll be doing to support communities here.
In the meantime, I'd like to say a huge thank you for your support; VSO couldn’t send volunteers like me without it, and I look forward to keeping you posted on my progress.
Simon
