First on-farm workshop, but did it make a difference?

Some weeks ago, at the request of Bishwa, we visited his small dairy farm in Thankot about 10km outside Katmandu city. His farming was similar to that we had seen in Bungamati and Lamjung, where cows and other youngstock are permanently housed in tethered stalls and milking is done by hand. On Bishwa’s farm, his eleven cows live in 2 open sided sheds. There is no land other than an area for dung storage.  Memories of my own early days in farming came flooding back as I recalled a presentation I had made to a group at The Farmers Club, where I had made the theoretical case for a similar method of dairying. This talk eventually lead to Jude and I entering a share farming agreement which kick started our whole career in farming. But now in Nepal this theory had turned into reality.

Now, some weeks later on our way to the first Dairy Workshop,  we walked along the only farm access, a narrow path leading to where the herd is housed. As I walked the guiding words of the VSO trainer rang in my ears, 'Sustainable change must be needs driven, and the Needs must be identified by the trainees, not me'. Ownership of the Need is one key to long lasting change. Easy to say not so easy to do. 

 

We look at a fresh calved cow.

Rakesh looks on as Bishwa and I chat

A local breed, but most cows have some Holstein genes from AI

 

 

The farmers extended family lived in a modest house overlooking enclosure. Within the livestock buildings is a small shed where Rakesh, the young Indian stockman and his Nepali assistant, Ramesh sleep. Rakesh’s father works with cows and no doubt his father before him. Bishwa, the owner, had only established the herd a couple of years ago and was looking for some technical input. So there was our first Need and he quickly disclosed others as we talked. His sister Binuka was adding value  by making and selling yogurt, paneer cheese and pasteurised milk in her small city shop. However, Bishwa's farm had a high cost structure and the cows needed to produce more milk. So there was a second Need, and it felt like home! Half way across the world and the needs are similar if not the same. An Added Value business struggling to cover its costs, very familiar.

Sieving dung to check digestion, not a nice job, but it has to be done.

A reassuring word for Rakesh as Binuka who runs the Added-Value looks on.

Checking the weight of straw in the ration.

Together we looked at the cows, sieved some dung to check digestion was good, and then a quick look at  feeds. No land results in these farmers buying everything and since straw is the only available bulk feed it forms the backbone of the diet. Remaining nutrients come from ground maize meal and another meal with mixed components ….and of course that essential ingredient water.  With daytime temperatures and 30c and humidity around 80% keeping water in front of these cows is essential. A cow requires 4.5 lts of water to produce 1Lt of milk so these old girls could be drinking 120 plus lts per day. All the feed is put in front of these cows, there is no free access to anything so inaccuracy of any sort would challenge milk yields.

 

 

Together we learn the basics

Drawing skills put to the test

 

With a few changes identified we retired to the farmhouse for a quick teach-in on what the inside of a cow looks like and the basics of a correct diet and we were done. I had caught a glimpse of disbelief and a thirst for more, as these fundamentals were revealed, for the first time. The action points were noted, to be emailed later, and another visit date made.

But how had I done. Had I facilitated some change or had it been a ‘tell-tell exercise’ where the only words were coming from my mouth and not the trainees? Had I given them any ownership of outcomes, or were the resulting feelings for  Rakesh that his job was under threat rather than a desire for more knowledge? I had made an effort to recognise the great job the farm team were doing, but with the language barrier was it enough.  We had planned a further visit to check progress but how could 'sustainable development' be achieved. Perhaps forming a ‘Farmer Self-Help Group’ with other like-minded farmers may be a way forward. Either way these farmers had given me a soft landing and I was grateful.

 

Nepal is a country with a huge demand for dairy products driven by a lack of supply and growing  urban population. We may discover in our rural placement area where producers are more marginalised, demand is high but transport difficult if not impossible. Storage  will be challenging to say the least, and  the Needs could be entirely different, but there are identified Needs here and now. Together we are grappling for meaningful solutions.