Our Projects

Nepal

Since 2007, VIVA has had a presence in Nepal. Our volunteer vets, working with our country project partner Animal Health Training and Consultancy Services (AHTCS), have been working on a new project which is co-funded by VIVA and Bóthar. The new project, Community Livestock Production Strengthening Project (CLPSP) incorporates two previously separate projects, namely, the Women Empowerment and Animal Nutrition Management projects.

In Nepal, over 70% of the population depends on agriculture as a source of income. 90% of all the farming work is done by the women in the family. 15 groups, predominantly female, have been selected in 6 very needy areas of the Kaski district for the CLPSP project which aims to improve the socio-economic status of all the participants involved by increasing the productivity from their farms. All the groups have taken part in group management and animal management training courses. Also, nine Community Animal Health Workers (CAHWs) have undergone intensive training and are working in the field, providing basic animal health services, not only to the group members, but also to local farmers. By the end of the first project year (May 2009), we plan to have trained the participants in shed construction and basic animal husbandry and distributed improved breeding stock to all the groups.

Our current volunteer vet, Ciaran Gobl, arrived in Nepal in the summer of 2008. You can follow his progress on his blog – http://vivanepal.blogspot.com/