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SUB-REGIONAL WORKSHOP:
GENDER, ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND
ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT in
SOUTH ASIA

Commercial Agriculture
Development Project (CADP)

Tek Bahadur Bam

Project Manager
 Brief Background
• Agriculture – main sector of Nepalese Economy contributing
about 33% of the GDP
• Around 66% labor force employed in agriculture
(Male:55%,female:77%)
• As men leave villages in search for more lucrative employment
in urban areas, women’s roles in agriculture and household
food security are increasing
• Agriculture growth rate – 2.7% in 90s and 2.8% during the
period 2001- 2006
• Despite overall slow progress of the agriculture sector, HVCs
(i.e. vegetables, fruits, tea, cardamom and spices) provide
grounds for optimism
• The project responds to the needs of stakeholders; and
ensures fairer benefits to poor disadvantaged communities
and women
Project: Introduction
• Project Duration: 6 Years (July 2007 to Dec 2012)
• EA: Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives
• IA : Department of Agriculture and Commercial Agriculture
Alliance.
• Associated JFPR : Improving Livelihoods for Poor Farmers and
Disadvantaged Groups (20 July 2007) in four districts of Eastern
Development Region ($ 1.0M)
 Project Objective

To reduce poverty in rural communities

of the 11 project districts through
equitable and sustainable
commercialization of
agriculture
Impact Outcome
Reduced poverty in the lmproved efficiency of
rural communities of 11 marketing and
districts processing of
high-value crops
(HVCs)
(from 44% to 40% by
2020) (Annual growth rate
from 5.6% to 6.5% by
project completion)
 Project Outputs
1. Increased public and private (traders, processors, farmers and
cooperatives) investment in commercial agriculture:
 Market infrastructure investment (collection, storage,
cooling centers and wholesale market)
 Non-market infrastructure investment (pest
management, farm technology, agro-processing
equipment)
2. Inclusion of poor and semi-commercial stakeholders in
commercial agriculture :
 Vocational and technical training and market awareness
provided to small farmers to develop and strengthen
income generating agricultural activities and become
members of the Commercial Agriculture Alliance (CAA)
 Project Outputs
3. Timely availability of market information to all concerned
stakeholders on:
 Contract production systems specialization
 Value-adding activities
 Crop varieties
 Production systems
 Processing Technologies
 Notification of market trends

4. Enhanced Capacity of Project Partners in Supporting Farmers

on
 Basic marketing development and training
 Post-harvest marketing
 Value chain improvements
 Product handling and agribusiness
 Specific features of the Project
• Marketing and processing
• Public-private partnership
• Involvement of local NGOs
• Special focus on social inclusion
• Gender and Social Inclusion (GESI) Action Plan as an
integral part of project
• Market chain linkages
• Demand based and stakeholder driven
• Inclusion of different categories of stakeholders
(commercial, semi-commercial and subsistence)
• MIS institutionalized
 CADP Strategy for GESI mainstreaming
• Formation of women’s groups and mixed groups
• Skill enhancement of women to engage in commercial
activity (setting quotas in training activities, market oriented
skills training, technical support)
• Social mobilization through NGOs – awareness raising,
information dissemination, facilitating participation of the
poor, disadvantaged and landless
• Integration of women into value chains– through
networking, training & workshop, awarding sub-projects)
• Information sharing, awareness raising and networking
• Establishment of disaggregated monitoring and reporting
system (by gender, ethnicity and caste)
 CADP Strategy for GESI mainstreaming
• Increase representation of women in decision-making in
commercial agriculture:
 Quota for 2 (out of 6) women in CAA Board
 Special priority to group sub-projects led by women (25
women’s groups are supported- e.g.- Satasidham
women’s group, Jhapa and Ratopani women’s group,
Teherathum).
 Total investment: NRs. 24,328 thousands from CAA
support- 9,528 and from group-14,800)
 At least 1 woman member in district review committee
 Women representation in user’s committee
(infrastructure sub-project) and executive committee of
mixed groups
CAA consists of:
10% processors Market
11% traders AMIS Information
32% cooperatives
47% farmers groups Dissemination

Commercial Stakeholders Value

CAA Addition
towards
Semi-commercial
Stakeholders
NGOs towards
Subsistence
Stakeholders
DADO and other
Capacity district level
Building service provider
CADP approach towards
commercialization
NGO Facilitation:
Social Mobilization

Women’s participation has

been ensured in all steps of
facilitating semi-commercial
stakeholders in adoption of
more commercial activities –
from identification to M&E
 GESI Plan Achievements
Performance Targets/ Indicator Achievements
(As of 31st Dec 2010)
30% of CAA members women Of the 38,070 total members, 48.48% female. Women
are mostly in farmers groups, some in processor and
trader groups. There is 1 women’s cooperative.
30% women involved market infrastructure
selection and its maintenance Of the 417 members, 33% were female.

50% of the beneficiaries reached are women Of the 352,121 beneficiaries, 50.54% women benefited
(Component 1)
50% of the group members are women Of the 25,523 group members, 63% are female
(inclusive development of stakeholders)

200 women entrepreneurs trained 2,184 female members have received production, post
harvest trainings by NGOs.

25% of participants in market related training 32 % female participants out of 654 members receiving
market related training
40% of the market information recipients are 46% of the market information recipients are women
the women
50% of the NGOs staffs trained are women. 20% female staffs are trained out of 254 staffs of NGOs
 Inclusion in Beneficiaries

Categories Gender Social Class Total

Male Female Dalit Janajati Others
Subsistence
(Farmers, Landless HH) 7004 13661 2618 10923 7124 20665
Semi-commercial
(i.e. farmers, traders,
processors)
2392 2466 429 2155 2274 4858

Commercial
(members 19614 18456 2159 15736 20175 38070
of CAA
Total
29010 34583 5206 28814 29573 63593
%
45.62 54.38 8.19 45.31 46.50 100
Beneficiaries of on-going Infrastructure sub-projects
Employment Generation in the Infrastructure SPs
(Expected)

Total: 37371 persons-days

Beneficiaries of on-going Non-infrastructure sub-projects
Employment Generation in the Non-infrastructure SPs
(Expected)

Total:8241 persons-days
 Capacity Building
Group No of groups Beneficiaries
Category received Male Female Dalit Janajati Other Total
trainings
Semi 179 2,192 2,184 376 1,912 2,088 4,376
commercial
Subsistence 443 3,751 7,903 1,345 6,713 3,569 11,654

CAA no. of Training 591 696 21 413 704 1,287

members 44
Total 6,534 10,783 1,742 9,038 6,361 17,317

% 37.73 62.27 10.06 52.19 36.73 100

 Achievement in Women’s Access & Employment in
Agriculture Value Chains
Non-infrastructure sub-projects
No. of sub-projects-161
Total beneficiaries-122,291 (female: 53% women)
Employment: 2,223 person-days (actual till date): female 52%
Employment- 8,241 person-days (anticipated) Female 52%

Employment generation (person-days)

Activity Actual Anticipated
Input supply 129 478
Production 1,367 5,068
Processing 631 2,340
Marketing 95 354
Total 2,223 8,241
Innovative Gender Mainstreaming Approaches: A Case
of Kabita Fruit Processing Industry

Sub Project: Processing, Labeling and Marketing Expansion of

Orange

Total investment (NRs): 3,873,035

CAA- 1,121,532;
member-2,751,503
Before project After project Activities
Contact to women farmer groups
•Technology, training and inputs
Orange out growers • 2 Farmers groups are contacted to
Processor supply graded-out orange fruits
Supply of orange to semi- Employment - 350 days (plucking) –
-collect processing sub-centre 85%women, grading 83 days (90%
oranges women); supply of graded products
from Processor (female Aggregation, debarking and semi-
traders group) processing (juice extraction) and short
and use Semi-processing term storage –
Employment: 800 days (juice extraction,
them for filling, storage)
processin
g in Agreement between semi- juice further processed (squash),
factory processor and full processor bottled, duly labeled and packed; and
located in marketed at district and regional level
market. The processing center is
Dhankuta l Processor
managed by women
Full processing, packaging,
labeling Employment – 7 female and 2 male full
time; 21 female and janajati employed
Marketing for about 3 months
Daily rate – 200 Rs/day

Local, regional and national market

 Challenges

• Low financial risk bearing capacity of women farmers

• Less instances of women graduating to processors and
traders
• Limited capacity of women in business management
and marketing
• No PEWA system (ownership of seed money and micro
enterprise) in project area
• Traditional practice/belief/customary system on
women’s roles
• Gendered roles and responsibilities hinders women’s
full participation in agribusiness
 Way forward for Women in Agribusiness
• Provide easy access to credit and soft loan terms to women
entrepreneurs (some provision has been made)
• Conduct targeted capacity building training for women – post
harvest handling/marketing, market chain improvement, product
trading
• Design training methodology, timing and venue - friendly to women
• Include special measures in training design to attract women–
business and numeracy literacy, leadership skills, sufficient training
allowance, crèche facility
• Link to MFIs and other finance institutions
• Provide technical and business development support to women
entrepreneurs
• Tea cardamom, vegetables, citrus, broom grass and zinger, Akabare
Chilly production are crops with good growth potential for women
entrepreneurs
• Harvesting-collection- storage-grading-semi-processing and
marketing activities have good potential for women’s employment
in agribusiness and agriculture value chains.