Breaking Barriers: Inclusive Agriculture for People with Disabilities in Nepal

1. Breaking down barriers:Strategies to include people with physical disabilities, with a specific focus on people with disabilities due to leprosy, in agriculture in Nepal Webinar Presentation 23 January 2018 Kiran Wagle, Enablement Nepal Saroj Yakami, MetaMeta

2. Introduction Action research project - “Breaking down barriers: Strategies to include people with physical disabilities, with a specific focus on people with disabilities due to leprosy, in agriculture in Nepal” Funded by - Leprosy Research Initiative (LRI), Netherlands Implemented by - Enablement Nepal, Enablement Netherlands, MetaMeta Netherlands, NLR, and Agriculture and Forestry University in Nepal Research - action research approach to establish the in/exclusion of PWD (particularly leprosy) in agriculture sector in Nepal Promotion of good practices Exploring and testing how to improve / increase access to water for agriculture, (Piloting initiatives with 3R: Recharge, Retention and Reuse of water) Exploring to what extent it (better access to water for agriculture) improves wellbeing and inclusion of people with disabilities and those affected by leprosy (Research component)

3. Access to agricultural Inputs: Way to promote inclusion of Persons with Disability Country Context: Agriculture is still the largest employer in Nepal. Nearly 80 percent of Nepal’s total population (28 million) and 60 percent of the labour force is dependent on agriculture. This sector contributes approximately one-third of the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in a country. It is the main contributor to household level food / nutrition security and livelihood for the rural population. But, hardly any people with disabilities are (self) employed in agriculture.

4. …. Way to promote inclusion of PwD contd …….. Government’s Policy / International Convention Commitment : Government of Nepal (GoN) has ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in 2010. One of the Principles of the CRPD is to ensure full and effective participation and inclusion of persons with disabilities in society (Article 3). Article 27 of the CRPD provides that States Parties shall safeguard and promote the realization of the right to work of persons with disabilities by taking appropriate steps, including through legislation and establish just and favorable conditions of work. GoN has also adopted several legal instruments and directives, however they are not effectively implemented to enhance quality of life in practice. To support to achieve the CRDP goal, this project has made efforts to increase access of persons with disabilities on resources and livelihood schemes.

5. Project background What is 3R? 3R (Water Retention, Recharge and Reuse) concept is an approach for improving the water buffering capacity in an area of land using simple and low cost technologies Water buffer is like an old bucket …. - The holes need to be closed (Retention) - Filling of the bucket must be improved (Recharge) - The use of water must be improved (Reuse) 3R Actions

6. Project background….Cont… • Geographical coverage: 2 districts of Nepal (Gorkha, a hill district and Morang, a plain / Terai district). • Established 3R in four pilot sites (Chhoprak and Dus Kilo of Gorkha; and Urlabari and Patthari-Sanischare of Morang district) for demonstration and operationalization.

7. Project background … Cont… Hypothesis: People with physical disabilities, in specific those with disabilities due to leprosy, face social and physical barriers in their access to water for agriculture. Improving access to water is beneficial to crop production, which has a positive effect on livelihoods, status, (self-) respect, and eventually: inclusion of people with disabilities. Topographical differences may determine the needs of people with physical disabilities in terms of water access for agriculture, as well as strategies to improve access to water.

8. Project background … Cont… Main research question: How can increased access to water for agriculture improve the wellbeing and inclusion of people with physical disabilities and their families? Specific research questions: What are the physical and social barriers that lead to exclusion of people with physical disabilities to access water for agriculture? What (water buffering) strategies lead to better access to water, and better management of water for agriculture – in specific for people with physical disabilities and in general for all? Will better crop production lead to inclusion of people with physical disabilities and how can this be measured? What are the differences and similarities between the two different topographic areas (plains versus mid-hills) in terms of needs and strategies for better access to water and water management?

9. Schematic overview of research topic and argumentation

10. Research Methodology Survey: Socio-Economic, Barriers for PwDs in agriculture, inclusion Other tools used: Transect Walk, Participation Scale (Inclusion) and WHOQOL-BREF (measure quality of life) 3R Piloting: 4 sites in two districts Monitoring and Evaluation

11. Sampling framework / Data collection Households / respondents covered by the study Number of Households covered by the Study Respondents by type of disability 11 11 9

12. Findings

13. Finding 1: Barriers that lead to exclusion of persons with disabilities to get involved in agriculture sector

14. Finding 2: Areas of support for self-employment of persons with disabilities in agriculture

15. Finding 3: Promotion of inclusion of persons with disabilities by engaging in agriculture Source: Survey, 2016

16. 3R technology has been proven to be successful to ensure access of persons with disabilities for agricultural production. • It has opened up space for community to engage in agriculture practices equally irrespective of disability. • It informed the community about the capacity and knowledge of persons with disabilities to engage in agriculture sector for their livelihood. • This approach empowered the persons with disabilities, help mainstream them in socio-economic activities. Finding 4: Possibilities of 3R to increase the participation and inclusion of persons with disabilities

17. Finding 5: Social inclusion requires long-term commitment and should start from access to resources A long-term commitment and action is required to achieve social inclusion of persons with disabilities. First of all, persons with disabilities want to see their empowerment through increased capabilities and access in socio-economic activities. The empowerment further leads to their mainstreaming and inclusion in all aspects of life.

18. Creation of awareness on different social, health, economic aspects • Provision of credit facilities • Train people with better education and training • Commercialization of agriculture • Disability friendly infrastructures, support organs and programs • Provision of on-station employment opportunities • Women empowerment Finding 6: Suggestion for meaningful participation of persons with disabilities

19. Some photos of field activities / 3R

24. Persons with disabilities (with leprosy) and without disabilities who are involved in this research project Leprosy Research Initiative (LRI) & Research Team Kiran Wagle, Kshitij Wagle and Sabitri Dahal (Enablement Nepal) Huib Cornielje and Marije Cornielje (Enablement Netherlands) Dr. Shiva Dhakal (Agriculture and Forestry University, Rampur, Nepal) Saroj Yakami (MetaMeta – Nepal) Dr. KP Dhakal and Nanda Lal Bastola (NLR, Nepal office)

25. Questions ?