The Jeevan Project: Empowering marginalised women in Nepal

In 2016 our three-year 'Jeevan' project was successfully completed.

The project helped marginalised women to improve their families’ food security and household income. It also encouraged and supported them to participate in local decision making.

The project worked with the Tharu tribal community in the Banke district of Nepal.

In Banke, many men are forced to migrate to towns and cities to find work. Women are left to provide for their children without a secure source of income or food.

At the start of the project Find Your Feet conducted a survey of 54 households in the area. We found that:

• 59% of households had never attended school and were illiterate.
• 70% had less than 10 kattha of land (338 sq m) – not enough land to feed a family all year.
• 72% were not able to produce enough food from the land to last them all year and as a result were forced to go hungry or swap food for labour.
• 23 children under the age of 15 years were found to be participating in agricultural labour to supplement the household income.

Find Your Feet took action to give Tharu women the tools to create change:

• We provided training in sustainable agriculture and helped to appoint ‘Lead Farmers’ to share their knowledge with others in the area.
• We established Women’s Groups and helped them to run village savings schemes.
• We provided training to help women set up small businesses such as: poultry and fish farming, bee keeping, leaf plate making, bamboo handicrafts and soap making.
• We set up community forums where men and women could learn about government services and schemes, such as education, healthcare and employment benefits.

Find Your Feet works with local people to plan and implement projects, to ensure we address the community’s needs. We also work closely with local government and community leaders to ensure that project activities are sustainable and will continue in the future without our support.

By donating to Find Your Feet’s work, you are investing in people, and giving them the tools to create change now, and in years to come.