Our
Nepal has been blessed with an incredibly diverse
geography, ranging from the heights of the Himal, to
the rugged mountain slopes, subtropical foothills
and the fertile Teri. Nepal boasts some of the best
biodiversity and natural beauty in the world. Couple
this with our unique culture, many ethnic groups,
languages and festivals, diversity in wildlife and
simply unbeatable natural beauty and you have one of
the most sort after tourist destination in the
world!
This is the very reason why so many tourist travel
to Nepal each year, which has created a country
whose economic backbone is dependent on tourism. One
can comfortably say that without our natural
environment, those tourists would not come here and
the economic state of Nepal would hence decline.
Therefore it is vital that we all work together to
preserve our environment. It’s essential that the
tourism sector start looking at the environment as
our “product”, something we must not only sell and
market, but also look after with view to a
sustainable future.
Currently, there are a number of factors that are
causing environmental degradation, air pollution,
water pollution, deforestation and natural
imbalance. One of the reasons behind this is the
practice of inorganic farming in rural Nepal. Though
chemical farming may increase productivity and
income for the farmer, the use of chemicals and
pesticides causes damage and infertility not only to
soil, natural vegetation, native animals and water
pollution; it also creates health problems to the
farmers themselves and people within the
communities.
These facts are commonly known and organic farming
is not a new concept, what is lacking is the
commitment to make the change towards better
environment practices. There may be multiple
reasons, like increased income, lack of technology
and knowledge that stop farmers from making the
change, but the reasons to make the change to
organic farming for a better environment should not
be overlooked. We must remember that without a
pristine natural environment, we would lose our
number one marketing product, Nepal’s Natural
Environment, the effect of which would be
detrimental to the tourism industry and the
livelihoods of thousands of Nepalese.
What NETIF is aiming to achieve is to promote the
benefits of organic farming to the farmer, to the
local community and to the hotel sector. Of course a
farmer will not embark on the changes needed to
undertake organic farming if he is not supported and
receives no profit from doing so. First and
foremost, the man of the land must be able to make a
sustainable living from his work. This is where the
local community, and more so the Hotel and tourism
sectors can come in.
The change cannot be made by one alone; it must come
from all parties involved. That we work together to
achieve the goal is essential to the success of
organic farming. The switch will not initially be
easy, but the benefits of organic farming are
multiple through all levels of society and most
importantly the move towards organic produce,
farming methods and life styles is crucial to the
future preservation of our environment, the health
of community members and the economic stability of
the tourism industry.
Organic Farming is also a cheap and efficient way to
help with these environmental problems.
If we all work together, buyers, sellers, community
members and the government, we can work to achieve
our goals and build a solid infrastructure for the
future or Organic Farming and a blue print that can
be used across Nepal as an example of the changes we
can make by uniting and working together.
• The government must make a stand, send out the
message that organic produce is better for the
environment, the economy and for our health, they
must implement certification plans, assist in the
building of a solid infrastructure and also offer
incentives to both the farmers and the buyers and
the public to go organic.
• NGO’s and INGO’s can assist buy helping to build
lines of communication and networking between all
parties involved and also to bring on board
international experience, technology and farming
methods.
• The hoteliers must step up and agree to support
the farmers by buying the produce, promoting the
produce and educating the tourism sector and their
guests about the benefits of organic produce.
NETIF is committed to assisting the communities
involved in going over to organic farming. We are
endeavouring to build community meeting houses that
can also be used as selling points for the organic
goods, to implement a certification system where
both the buyer and the seller will be certified as
following the organic guidelines and to bring
together members from all sectors involved to get
them networking, communicating and supporting each
other in one united goal...to become organic.
The
foundations for building organic farming practices
in rural community must be laid down with care.
Though we must also consider the people involved,
the finical benefits and possible draw backs, we
must also focus on how privileged we are to live in
such a beautiful natural environment and understand
that it is our job to ensure the ongoing
preservation of it.
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