Learning to farm riverbanks

Families farming riberbanks

In many countries riverbanks and other natural resources are there to be enjoyed by everyone. In Nepal landless people have started using riverbanks to improve their lives; they started farming at riverbank and are growing vegetables.

At first they did not believe that a riverbank could be fertile land for vegetables.

Since summer 2001, farmers in the Morang district in eastern Nepal have been cultivating the bank of Bakraha River with extraordinary success.

Plan, in collaboration with FORWARD ¿  a local charity ¿ started the project four years ago providing support to farmers, distributing seeds and disseminating technology. After piloting, the project was expanded.

Crops

Now local people are farming in area of 18 hectares and producing fresh vegetables they sell in Biratnagar, a market in eastern Nepal. Altogether, 187 marginalised and landless families are involved in this initiative.

Local farmer Kedar Gautam is satisfied with the production of vegetables. He has a land of 2 kattha (667 square meter) for farming green vegetables providing him and his family with an income. He spends the income from the sale of part of his vegetables on schooling for his children.

Though he has never owned land before, he thinks that farming the riverbank can provide his family with 4-5 thousand rupees a year, which is a good amount for landless people in this part of the country.

After the success of the pilot programme, the project has since been replicated in 17 other villages along the river.

These farmers are pleased with the land as gift of nature for producing vegetables.

Yamanath Regmi, another participating farmer, said, ¿all farmers have been spending the income on schooling. It has helped us to feed our family and send our children to school,¿ with most of the vegetables being sold in the nearest market without any difficulties.

Though the initiative is very new and at first many people could hardly believe that the riverbank can give such good results, after participating in the training programme organised by FORWARD, farmers now understand the benefits of this new initiative.

This has shown that farming at the riverbank can contribute to poverty reduction if all stakeholders treat it as a resource to benefit landless people.