the improvement of the accessibilities and subsequently to the overall development in the hilly areas of Janakpur zone. Banepa to Bardibas highway (160 km), which started in mid 90s passes through the mid hill districts (Sindhuli, and Kavre) that connects the Capital city with the Terai and eastern parts of Nepal. To complement the uses of this highway, JICA has been supporting for the community access improvement project around the Sindhuli corridor areas. This project is ongoing where 33 bridges are under construction to enhance connectivity on rural roads. Thus the major concern is how the rural people would be able to make best use of these facilities to improve their livelihoods. JICA, in collaboration with the Department

July to September 2012 | VOLUME 66

Japan InternationalCooperation Agency

JICA Nepal Office

Development has multiple facets with dynamic dimension and thus

JICA, as one of the leading development agencies, has major theme “Inclusive and Dynamic Development”. JICA’s assistance in Janakpur zone of Nepal started in late 1970s with the Janakpur Agriculture Development Program (JADP) and gradually moved towards the hilly districts with the implementation of Horticulture Development Projects (HDP I & II) in mid 80s for more than a decade. Agriculture in a hilly and mountainous country like Nepal with diverse agro climatic variation within short range of altitude has been considered as the entry point by JICA for the rural development. And JICA’s cooperation gradually moved towards

- Narendra Kumar Gurung

InsIden Cooperative sector has... Page 2n Ktm-Bkt Road Page 3n Dialogical facilitation Page 4n GeMSIP exchange tour Page 4n Popularizing 5S Page 5n News in brief Page 6-7

of Agriculture, is implementing “The Project for the Master Plan Study on High Value Agriculture Extension and Promotion in the Sindhuli Road Corridor” (SRCAMP), which covers four districts—Kavre, Sindhuli, Ramechap and Dolakha. It is expected that livelihoods of the rural people will be improved through the high value commercial agriculture production by increasing their income level. SRCAMP intends to intervene through major stakeholders from farmers, middlemen, private sector, cooperatives to government level to raise income for the improvement of living standard of rural people in a sustainable manner. There are other projects assisted such as Strengthening Community Mediation Capacity for Peaceful and Harmonious Society (COMCAP), Strengthening the Monitoring and Evaluation System (SMES), Road Maintenance, Participatory Watershed Management and Local Governance (PWMLGP) and the dispatch of JICA volunteers (Senior Volunteers and Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers) in the same areas. Besides, the Japanese Embassy, through its Grass Roots Grant Assistance Scheme, has been supporting various activities at the community level in the same areas. COMCAP encourages coherence and congenial atmosphere among the neighborhood that would enable everyone to live in a win-win situation where as the PWMLGP embraces the local community members in each

Quarterly Newsletter

Enhancing corridor based rural development

Photo: Narendra Kumar Gurung

Continued to page 7

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Co-operatives are the life blood and backbone of Nepal’s economy.

Stalwart figures speak for themselves. More than three million Nepali people are affiliated with 22,646 co-operatives the country boasts and over 50,000 are directly employed in the co-operative sector, recognized as one of the three pillars of development. Like other sectors, cooperative is one of the priority areas of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in Nepal. Shigehisa Ozawa, a JICA co-operative expert who worked here from 2006 to 2008 (as JICA Senior Volunteer) and 2009-2012 (as Volunteer Coordinator) is all praise for Nepal’s co-operative sector. While he was in Nepal, he saw the fast-paced development of the co-operative sector. Upon successful completion of his tenure in Nepal recently, Santosh Chhetri of JICA Nepal spoke with Ozawa about the nitty-gritty of this sector.

Being a foreign cooperative expert, how do you find Nepal’s cooperative sector? How does it fare in comparison with the cooperative sectors of the other countries?

Cooperatives of Nepal have few members and their scale is small. The power of community people is not being fully utilized. Cooperatives are businesses owned and run by and for their members. No matter who the members are, they have an equal says and shares. Co-operatives share internationally agreed principles and act together to build a better world through cooperation. Successful co-operatives around the world are

Shigehisa Ozawa presenting a paper on Nepal’s cooperative sector development at the JICA Nepal office.

allowing people to work together to create sustainable enterprises that generate jobs and prosperity and provide answers to poverty and short term business practices.

The number of cooperatives in Nepal is large but their quality is quite questionable. More credible and members based cooperatives are yet to come forward for the modernization and commercialization for the agricultural development of Nepal.

How can the cooperative sector make possible economic, social and cultural transformation of a country like Nepal?

Co-operative is a democratic business organization and managed by members. Poverty can be reduced through people self-reliance. It creates people’s cooperative businesses and contributes to community development, not only in urban areas but also at local level. People not only can get business opportunities, they can learn the ABCs of democratic management by participating in cooperatives as a member has three aspects in a cooperative---investing, using and participating in management.

During your stay you have closely observed Nepal’s cooperative sector, what does a cooperative revolution mean in Nepalese context? How you promoted and supported cooperative activities in Nepal?

Cooperative is indispensable component of agricultural development in Nepal. The large number of cooperatives (that emerged in a short period) have a pivotal role in Nepalese economy. Now we can see some farmers who are producing various agricultural commodities in commercial scale. JICA has also supported in transferring agricultural technology over the years. The spread of OVOPs (One Village, One Product) in recent years is promising. Now, many farmhouses are guided by market-driven approaches. But at the same time there is a huge margin between the prices that farmers and consumers get.Nepal’s agriculture sector needs to be modernized at the earliest. We can see some initiatives by cooperatives such as in milk, vegetable production, saving and

credit and so on. JICA is trying to develop high value agricultural products in the Sindhuli corridor area. Hopefully it can be used as a future model.

Since Nepal has adopted three-pillar economic policy—government, cooperative and private—how the cooperative sector can boost the other two sectors? What are your recommendations to revitalize Nepal’s economy through the cooperative sector?

This sector realizes promotion of community development and reduction of poverty and it can contribute to social economy development of Nepal. Recently, the Government of Nepal has established the Ministry of Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation to enhance and develop this sector. The government is determined to finalize a Cooperative Policy as soon as possible. There is a challenge ahead on how to deal with an increasing number of co-operatives.

How can donor agencies like JICA work for the development of Nepal’s cooperative sector? Any specific areas that they need to focus on?

Japan considers agriculture and rural development one of the priority sectors for the reduction of poverty in rural areas of Nepal. The rolling plan is one of a strategic document to extend assistance, which mentions that the farmer groups are one of the most effective mediums to promote agriculture and rural development in Nepal. Cooperatives are considered one of the most effective institutional mechanisms through the mobilization of farmer groups to promote the overall development in rural areas.

What JICA should do to promote and support cooperative activities in Nepal?

Utilizing experiences of the Japanese cooperative movement, using cooperative potential for poverty reduction in rural areas and continue working towards agriculture development are the foremost things that JICA can do.

Cooperative sector has a lot of potential

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Transport is one of the most important and foremost infrastructure for

the development of the nation. More importantly, the quality transport infrastructure can be taken as an engine of growth and development.

In order to support for the development of Nepal, JICA assisted for the construction of the 9.1 km stretch of the Kathmandu-Bhaktapur Road by widening it from the existing 2 to 4 lanes from Tinkune in Kathmandu to Suryabinayak in Bhaktapur. Although late, the Government of Nepal is constructing the service road on both sides and also constructing other facilities like overhead pedestrian bridges to secure the efficient utilization of the road.

The improvement of this road is strategically important not only for improving the traffic flow between Kathmandu and Bhaktapur, but also essential to have a reliable link with the Sindhuli Road, Araniko Highway and the under construction Mid-hill highway. Thus, this road is linking the capital with the eastern Terai, the eastern hills of Nepal, India and China. Therefore, the economic and environmental implication of this road is high since it facilitates for better international trade, creating wider scope for urban-rural linkages, and mitigating urban traffic congestion.

Before the improvement of this road, the people were aware that the traffic handled by the two-lane road was far more than the road capacity, thus creating traffic congestion leading to longer travel time, high fuel consumption by vehicles, environmental pollution and frustration among the road users and the local people.

The project which started in 2008 was completed in 2011 and handed over to the Government of Nepal. After the completion, the defects liability period of one year has the provision of rectifying the faulty construction work within a period of one year. Therefore, the contractor Hazama Corporation, in coordination with the Department of Roads (DoR) and the consultant Nippon Koei, identified the defects and rectified it. Defects liability inspection was carried out by the DoR with

Ktm-Bkt road: A symbol of modernizationthe contractor and consultant on September 17, 2012 to confirm the works carried out under the defects liability by the contractor. JICA officials were also present during the successful completion of the defects liability inspection. And now, it can be said that the Government of Nepal and the other Nepali stakeholders have further greater role to manage this road’s efficiently; complete other supporting infrastructure like service road, pedestrian overhead bridges for better usage of this road; and improve the physical environment by regularly cleaning it and clearing the drainage. The management of the road only by the DoR is not enough and should be complimented

by the enforcement of regulations by the traffic police, better solid waste management by the related municipalities and VDCs, support from the local people, and the proper use by the road users. Then, it will certainly give satisfaction to the Government of Japan and JICA for having supported this important project. This road a portion of the Asian Highway with all required standard is one of its kind which symbolizes another chapter in the modernization process of Nepal or a step further in creating a new Nepal.

(Rana is Associate Program Manager of JICA Nepal)

- Sourab Rana

Photo Courtesy: Ktm-Bkt Road Improvement Project

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Dialogical facilitation methodology training for first time

GeMSIP exchange tour and dissemination workshop

Dialogical Facilitation Methodology is a technique to collect reliable

information from the villagers by simple conversation and reflect the voice of the villagers to project formulation and evaluation. The technique can also be used to facilitate the villagers to realize their own problem through the process of concretization until they become empowered to take action to solve their problems on their own. This kind of methodology has been increasingly significant to current development practitioners especially among those NGO’s staff at field level who often have

direct contact with beneficiaries. JICA Nepal NGO Desk is now trying to provide opportunities for Japanese NGOs and its counterpart NGOs to develop their skills which are necessary for the promotion of their current projects. As a part of such initiatives, NGO Desk had organized ‘Training on the Dialogical Facilitation Methodology” for Japanese NGOs as well as their counterpart NGOs from September 19-25 at Summit Hotel in Lalitpur. NGO Desk has initiated this type of training for the first time since its establishment in 2003.

The training was mainly held for two purposes; one was to promote the facilitation skills and aptitude of Japanese NGOs and its counterpart NGOs, and the other was to build an effective network amongst themselves. Toyokazu Nakata was invited as a special trainer from Japan to facilitate the training program. He is famous as a founder of this dialogical facilitation methodology and has been conducting a similar training for several years. The training materials included case studies and trainers’ manual incorporated with theory, practical and presentation

- Prerana Bishet classes. Practical classes such as one day field trip to Ravi Opi VDC in Kavre district and half a day visit to vegetable market in Kalimati were also conducted. The training was for 5 days and there were 39 participants from 18 organizations in total. The essence of the dialogical facilitation skills were efficiently conveyed to all the participants within a short period of time and the learning seemed to be very important and applicable for everyday practice in the field.

Since this was the first facilitation training organized by NGO Desk, the questionnaire were circulated for the feedback and suggestions. And having received an awe-inspiring response, NGO Desk is willing to plan for some more beneficial trainings and events for Japanese NGOs and its counterpart NGOs in future so that NGOs can promote their own skills and capacity and to build an effective development partnership amongst themselves to contribute towards the socio-economic development of Nepal.

(Bishet is Consultant at JICA Nepal NGO Desk)

The Gender Mainstreaming and Social Inclusion Project (GeMSIP) organized an observation and exchange tour from Morang to Syangja on 13-16 August 2012. This is a part of GeMSIP’s dissemination/internalization program. As such, the exchange tour aimed to observe the implementation and progress of GeMSIP Pilot Project in Syangja, to exchange views on GeMSIP, its strengths and weaknesses, and to get acquainted with GeMSIP stakeholders. There were 41 participants including 19 Morang delegates (LDO, WDO, GESI IC members, VDC Secretaries and others), representatives from MoWCSW, MoFALD and DWC, representatives from Japanese Embassy and JICA, and JICA experts. During the exchange tour, sub-projects supported by GeMSIP were observed in two VDCs, Phedikhola and Jagatradevi. At the time of sub-project observation, various interactions were made with IPC members, WCF

representatives, User Groups and other stakeholders. A meeting with LDO, WDO and GESI IC members of Syangja district was held after the site visit to Phedikhola.During the tour, participants found that women were empowered to lead sub-projects, proving their capacity. The level of confidence heightened even among highly excluded groups so that they now seek access to the development process. For the VDC IPC and WCFs, gender-responsive and socially inclusive composition has been realized and members are sensitive to GESI matters, giving chances for women, Dalits, poor and other excluded groups to voice their concerns.

Similarly, GeMSIP organized a dissemination program in Morang on 13-16 September 2012 to introduce GeMSIP and its pilot project, to introduce Gender Mainstreaming and Social Inclusive (GMSI) mechanism developed in Morang,

to discuss VDC- and community-level GMSI activities in pilot VDCs and to discuss applicability of GMSI mechanism in Nepal to the participants of the five neighboring districts of Morang. There were 64 participants including 16 women. Main invitees were officials of the five surrounding districts (Jhapa, Ilam, Panchthar, Dhankuta and Sunsari): LDOs, WDOs and SDOs. Executive Officers of eight municipalities in the same area were also invited. Representatives of the central-level counterparts (MoFALD, MoWCSW, DWC) and JICA Nepal Office also joined the program. In addition, some development partners, INGOs and Journalists based in Biratnagar participated. From Morang District, GESI IC members and VDC Secretaries of Pilot VDCs received the delegates

(Adhikari is Senior Program Officer at JICA Nepal)

Phot

o: P

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na B

ishet

- Nama Raj Adhikari

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Popularizing 5S: A success formula- Santosh Chhetri

The day Hajime Kihana was posted in Sanothimi Technical School (STC) on

a two-year assignment, the Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteer (JOCV) was struck by seeing rugged parts of automobiles dotting the warehouses and garages of Nepal’s one of the leading technical training institutes. A few days after taking charge as an automobile instructor, he toyed with the idea of introducing 5S in the school.

While working for Mazda Motor Corporations back in Japan, the JICA volunteer had solved most of the problems encountered at workplace through 5S—Sorting (Seiri in Japanese), Straightening (Seiton), Sweeping (Seiso), Standardizing (Seiketsu) and Self-discipline (Shitsuke). Today, the mechanical equipment at STC are well-maintained and even a minor problem such as loose bolts or leaking oil are immediately fixed, courtesy of the efforts made by Kihana, an automobile engineer by profession with more than 10 years of experience in this field.

A clean and tidy workplace leads to a greater well-being of staff, teachers and students of STC as well as improves image of the school, says Kihana, who was crowned Mazda A Class Service Engineer in 2010. He says that 5S are a must to achieve high level of quality, safety and productivity as well as ensure a conducive environment at workplaces.

As his assignment is ending in January 2013, Kihana is busy drawing up teaching plans and training schedules as well as teaching methods at STC.

Presently, he is preparing an automobile maintenance course book and is planning to hand over it to STC within his assignment period. Besides teaching students who join STC from all across the country as well as from Bhutan aspiring to be automobile instructors, he spends significant amount of time at STC to teach ABCs of 5S to both staff and students.

The students are enjoying learning how to assemble and dissemble automobiles as well as maintain and inspect vehicles from Kihana. Many of them are familiarized with 5S. In technical sectors like automobiles, 5S save time, minimize mistakes, increase space and create workplace ownership by creating a better working environment and a consistently high quality process.

STC says the host organization is greatly benefitted from Kihana’s service rendered with diligence by sacrificing his time to serve miles away from home. We are thankful for Kihana and are also grateful for JICA’s assistance, says Rajeshwor Devkota, Executive Director of UCEP-Nepal, which runs STC.

Kihana is among 68 volunteers who are currently working in Nepal in several sectors, sharing their valuable skills and experiences acquired in Japan with Nepali people.

(Chhetri is Public Relations Consultant at JICA Nepal)

Photos: Santosh Chhetri

Sustainability of PWMLGP model discussed

Japanese teachers’ study tour

A Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) meeting of Participatory Watershed Management and Local Governance Project (PWMLGP) was organized on September 11, 2012 at Department of Soil Conservation and Watershed Management (DSCWM). The meeting was chaired by Dr Krishna Chandra Paudel, Secretary of the Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation (MoFSC). The major agendas of the meeting were progress made by the project, work plan of the fourth year and progress of the exit strategy preparation. The meeting approved the progress of the year threes and work plan for the fourth year. The exit strategy working group made a presentation and discussed on it in the JCC

NEwS iN BRiEf

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meeting. PWMLGP is being implemented in eight districts, Sindhupalchok, Kavre, Tanahun, Kaski, Syangja, Parbat, Baglung, and Myagdi since August 2009 by the MoFSC and the DSCWM in close coordination with the Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development with the support of the JICA.

PWMLGP is now in a crucial stage and running in 4th year of implementation. To ensure sustainability of the program, Exit Strategy Working Group has been officially formulated to prepare the exit strategy. Though it has not concluded yet, high level discussions on how to internalize the model into government program have

The program was for one week and during the program the teachers visited different local schools in Kavre and Dhading districts to observe the situation of government schools and interacted with students by song exchange activities and various Japanese games which they had brought from Japan. The team also observed the activities of Muguruma (JICA Senior Volunteer) and of Azuma (JOCV) and interacted with them to know about their everyday efforts. In addition, there was a special activity of home stay program at Pathlekhet VDC in Kavre. The villagers welcomed the teachers with songs and dances and all the participants joined along with them in joviality. This was a great moment for all the participants to know and experience the real rural life of Nepal.

On the final day, one of the teachers shared, “Japan has lost some basic valuable things in life during the process of modernization such as family love, community ties and other safety net of human relations which still exits in Nepal. We would like to tell what we have learnt and experienced in this tour to children in Japan after our return and not to forget the warmth and smile of Nepali people”.

Every year, during the month of August/September, JICA

Nepal NGO Desk receives a request of Teachers’ Study tour visit from JICA domestic centers. This year JICA Shikoku domestic center made a request to this effect. The schedule was from September 9-16. There were nine Japanese teachers as participants and one JICA staff from Shikoku as a coordinator. The main purpose of the program was to know the overall education structure in rural and urban areas of Nepal. Photos: Prerana Bishet

started among top ranking officials. In this process, JICA’s role is only observer and the Government Counterparts, being the main characters, are responsible for preparing the exit strategy with the support from relevant ministries and department considering the internalization, expansion and the replication of the program.

For Environmental awareness

Synthesis meeting of SMES phase II

Eriko Okawa, JOCV working in the community development sector at

the District Development Committee (DDC), Parbat, is actively engaged in developing tourism in Kusma. To that effect, she has been organizing town clean-up programs to welcome tourists. On the occasion of the Teej festival, nine JICA volunteers, including Okawa, organized an environmental awareness

The Project for Strengthening the Monitoring and Evaluation System

in Nepal phase II (SMES II), implemented under the National Planning Commission Secretariat (NPCS), conducted the “Synthesis Meeting” on the completion of its first year on September 24, 2012 amidst a function in Kathmandu. The main objective of the meeting was to share the achievement of first year and the result of the third party evaluation of one program and one project selected this year by the National Planning Commission, which has high national priority.

7

program in Kusma on 16-18 Sep. JICA volunteers, through a demonstration, showed the ways to make compost, toys, and other usable products from waste materials such as leftover meals, old cloths and used papers. Bad weather didn’t deter many people from attending the program and learned how to utilize waste materials and reduce garbage.

Children, who turned out in a huge number, too enjoyed coloring posters, a move aimed at preventing litters. The posters have been hung at many places around the Kusma bazaar after the program. A performance by some national actors, who sang various folk songs, and also another show by JICA volunteers, who sang Japanese songs and performed cultural dances, received thunderous applause.

SMES II has three levels of taskforce formed in NPCS; five partner ministries (Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Agriculture and Development, Ministry of Forests and Soil conservation and Ministry of Physical Planning, Works and Transport Management; and five partner districts—Kavre, Sindhupalchowk, Dolakha, Ramechhap and Sindhuli. Each partner ministries presented the progress of ministerial level M&E Coordination Taskforce, M&E plan, issues and challenges

ahead, their institutional and individual capacity development plan. The meeting helped ministries and districts officials to coordinate in formulating M&E plan and align their annual implementation plan.

In the second half of the program, the preliminary findings of the third party evaluation of the program and project—essential drug procurement and distribution program under free health services and impact evaluation of Sunsari-Morang Irrigation Project—were shared.

of the watershed together with the sustainable watershed management while improving their living standard. SMES basically stresses on how best the evaluation results could be properly included into the forthcoming development initiatives.

Therefore to sum up all, Japanese assistance is concentrated in the hilly areas by using its cumulative experiences in Nepal together with the adoption of multiple sectors and schemes, which can also be observed from the seamless assistance strategy of JICA. Now, it is time to have a broader and long term perspective on how the Japanese assistance in these areas will bring sustainable and enduring impact at the grassroots level to improve their livelihood. The diverse agro-ecological based economic

development is the comparative advantage of the hill and mountains which has to be further developed based on the rural areas with the gainful employment to reverse the outbound migration. Human development is the focus as well as the pivotal of any development initiatives, so the strong and viable rural peoples based institutions needs to be developed through the cooperatives and farmers’ institutions, which will have strong and sustainable network with the market and service providers both at the national and international level.

Banepa-Bardibas highway is main vein of the economic growth and the corridor

concept of development is gradually evolving in the mid-hill and mountains of Nepal. A comprehensive model of corridor-based rural areas development with the systemic and synergetic approach shall be emerged that could be replicated not only to the similar hilly and mountainous areas of Nepal but also be replicated to the wider rages of Hindakush region of Asia.

(Gurung is Chief Program Manager at JICA Nepal)

Enhancing ...Continued from page 1

Incoming StaffJICA Nepal welcomes new staff member:

Nama Raj AdhikariSenior Program Officer

Karmachari Sanchaya Kosh Building, Hariharbhavan, LalitpurP.O. Box 450, Kathmandu, Nepal Tel: 977-1-5010310 Fax: 977-1-5010284 Website: www.jica.go.jp/nepal/englishEmail: np_oso_rep@jica.go.jp

Japan International Cooperation Agency Nepal Office

If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for what you would like to see in future issues, please do not hesitate to write us.

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Government officials sent to Japan for JICA training from July - September 2012Field of Training Duration Number of ParticipantsWaterworks Engineering July 4-Sept 19 2Urban Solid Waste Management by Local Government July 23-Sept 22 2Animal Agriculture for Sustainable Rural Development July 22-Sept 15 2Improvement of the Social Welfare System July 16-Aug 8 1

Water Environment Administration July 4-July21 1Capacity Building for Developing Communication and Information Environment in Rural Community

July 24-Sept 8 1

Education for Peace Through Promoting Mutual Understanding Aug 26-Sept 27 3Rural Development for Small-Scale Farmers through Animal Cooperatives Activity in Asia Aug 26-Oct 30 2Planning of Agricultural Policy Aug 19-Sept 15 1Public Participation, Consensus Building and Resettlement in Public Works Project for Asian Countries

Aug 26-Sept 27 2

Trunk Road Management and Maintenance Aug 13-Sept 22 2Urban Road Management and Maintenance Sept 12-Oct 13 2Comprehensive Bridge Engineering Sept 24-Nov 3 4Strengthening the Export Competitiveness of Small and Medium-sized Coffee Producers Sept 23-Oct 20 2Project Management in Infrastructure Development for Civil Engineers Sept 18-Nov 17 1