Coffee promotion at Naukunda and Kalika Rural Municipalities of Rasuwa district

Coffee being a high export value as well as a great domestic market, its cultivation enhances the income generation of smallholders. Furthermore, the incorporation of multipurpose trees as a shade plant and high-value vegetable or spices plus livestock farming diversifies the household income.  Hence, the coffee agroforestry system is the best agroforestry approach for sustainable and regenerative agriculture in the area which makes the farming people more resilient by providing an opportunity for livelihood diversification. Not only this, agroforestry being a climate-smart technology, the adoption of which in hill farming reduces the impact of climate variability and climate change. Based on this empirical evidence, coffee-based agroforestry is being promoted in Rasuwa district by Nepal Agroforestry Foundation since 2017 in association with ASIA Onlus. In this year also, massive plantation program was carried out with the plantation of almost 24,500 coffee plants at the district, along with complementary shade plant Ipil Ipil. Besides this, farmers were trained on nursery raising of coffee plants, its care and management, technical and financial support on coffee nursery establishment. Farmers were distributed with coffee saplings as well as capacity building on commercial and improved cultivation techniques of coffee with the incorporation of cash generative crops in the farming system like vegetables, cardamom. This program is supposed to be effective in enhancing the livelihood of the marginalized communities of Rasuwa district.