In April & May 2010, Kate Green, our Nepal Program Manager, visited USC-supported projects there. She posted regular updates from the field during her trip in a series called Notes from Nepal. Read the series to learn more about our work in Nepal.

A Delicate Balance
By Kate Green
January 2010

Humla is one of the most remote districts of Nepal, tucked into the country’s northern edge
of dramatic Himalayan peaks, steep hillsides, and tiny, ancient villages. The only way to get to the district’s headquarters of Simikot is a 20-day walk in from the nearest road or by a small plane on an unpredictable schedule. Nonetheless, when USC began working in Humla in 1991, introduced hybrid seeds and chemical fertilizers had already found their way into the district, a response to need that unfortunately didn’t respect practices more suited to the local environment.

People who had survived in Humla for thousands of years on their traditional mainstay crops of millet, barley, and rice had their delicate balance of hillside food production undermined by food aid and external inputs. When USC arrived, only 38% of households were able to grow enough to feed themselves. The rest needed to find additional work or simply live on very, very little.

Today, through USC’s partner, the Self Help Initiative Program (SHIP) – and the unflagging dedication of a team led by Anga Bahadur Lama, Kangri Lama, and Santosh Kumar – the foundations of the local food system are regaining strength.

In these high altitudes and harsh conditions, the growing season is short and food shortages can last from 4 to 6 months of the year. The SHIP program has been helping farmers construct affordable greenhouses to lengthen the growing season and raise yields. Ganga Rokaya’s greenhouse has added 3 months of vegetable growing to her household food supply. Farmers can sell surpluses, further improving household self sufficiency.

More than 100 family gardens are now flourishing in USC sponsored communities, significantly augmenting household food supplies. Some particularly enterprising farmers have planted gardens near the trekking trail to the Tibetan holy places of Mount Kailash and Lake Manasorvar, selling vegetables that have increased the household income eight-fold.

The SHIP team has also been working on soil fertility and water conservation, using natural composting, and reviving terracing practices. They have also been sharing locally adapted and hardy traditional seed varieties, even in the furthest reaches of the district.

Step by step they are building a food system that makes good sense in these harsh but magical Hidden Himalayas.