Puja’s plentiful patch

In Nepal’s foothills, changing weather patterns pose great challenges for farmers. Many young adults have made the hard choice to leave home to find work.

But through the Youth Empowerment and Eco-Entrepreneurship Project, run by MCC partner Hilly Rural Development Organization of Northern Morang, young farmers are bearing new fruit right at home.

Puja Magar, 21, of Kerabari Rural Municipality, joined this three-year project in 2022, receiving training and seed funding.

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Puja Magar used what she learned about climate adaptation and leadership, and the funding she received, to experiment with growing strawberries. When her first plant thrived, she explored ways to grow berries on a larger scale in a field behind her family’s home. Plastic covers help plants retain moisture, even when rain is unpredictable. 

As Puja Magar’s field has flourished, so has her confidence in sharing farming knowledge. Longtime friend Ishwor Man Magar used his funding to buy a cow. He now sells milk at a local dairy and uses manure on his farm. Puja Magar saw her friend’s success and decided to raise a cow of her own. In turn, she has helped her friend seize the ripe opportunity to grow berries on his own land.

As the business has borne fruit, Puja’s mother, Purna Kumari Magar, plus her father, brother and uncles, have joined her in raising strawberries. The family currently sells to distributors, but they hope that, together, they can produce large enough yields to sell directly to customers.

Sienna Malik is managing editor of A Common Place magazine. Except where noted, Uma Bista, a freelance photographer in Nepal, supplied photographs through Fairpicture.