Channels to progress in Nepal

18 May 2007

Related pages: Nepal country profile | Making music for change | Spring cleaning in Nepal

Guptipur is a small village in the Mid-Western province of Nepal. It is located in an area badly affected by the recent decade-long conflict, and some of the younger members of the village were taken by force to fight with Maoist insurgents. However, despite daily concerns about their security, the villagers formed an action group to apply for money from DFID’s Community Support Programme (CSP). Their goal was to bring water to Guptipur by building an irrigation system.

"Without irrigation we could only grow one crop of maize every year. This gave us enough food to feed ourselves for two months, but after that we had to buy everything. This was very difficult and our children were often sick," explains local villager Sabitra Basyal. "The women also had to walk two and a half hours every day to collect water. We then had to wait our turn in the queue and the water was dirty."

The community agrees which farmer will draw water from the irrigation channel on which day, which ensures the smooth management of the new facilities. Sabitra says: "This has made a real difference to our village. We can now grow three crops every year, with extra harvest of rice and vegetables. Our children are healthier because they are drinking clean water and having a good diet."

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Meeting the challenges that remain

However, despite the assistance provided by CSP, life remains difficult, particularly for the women of the village. With over 90% of the village's men working elsewhere for eleven months of the year to make money to send home, it is the women who must take on the extra work of planting and harvesting the two extra crops that irrigation has made possible. The women also face an increased risk of catching HIV/AIDS from their husbands, who have often travelled to work in India where the disease is rife.

But the women of Guptipur know what they are doing and what they need. "We are using drip irrigation techniques, which mean that the water isn’t wasted and we can earn as much money as possible from our crops," says one villager. "We use any spare money to send our children to school. We would like to build good toilets in the future."

In Guptipur as in other areas of Nepal, DFID's Community Support Programme is allowing local communities to access the facilities and resources they need to raise their productivity, protect their health and so improve the quality of their lives.

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Key Facts

• 81% of the general population on Nepal have access to safe and clean water, but only 39% have access to sanitation.
• Recent statistics show that an estimated 30% of Nepalese live in extreme poverty with a daily income of less than $1(US).
• An estimated 70,000 Nepalis are infected with HIV, which is about 0.3% of the population.
• CSP operates in over half over Nepal’s districts, with a budget of £15 million between 2004 and 2008. It has supported over 3,000 projects targeting poor and excluded communities. It supports activities including the building of schools, the teaching of new trades, irrigation development, and enabling people to return to their homes post-conflict.

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