Presentation by:
Arun Shrestha, Chairperson, NETIF

Context
• Increased awareness on the social responsibility of hotel industries (Community Based Tourism, Fair Trade, greening of hotel Industry Pro poor tourism, responsible tourism).
• Increased awareness of human health and the health of future generation.
• Increased awareness on the service quality of hotels.
• Increased awareness on Environment protection, global warming, conservation of biodiversity and nature.
• Decreased on the productivity per unit of land
• Waste Management Minimization & Utilization
• Increased in the number of vegetarians in the present decade.

Bases of purchasing organic vegetable locally
• Zero cost of transportation
• Easy access and cheap price
• Tasty and hygienic quality of organic vegetables
• Promotion of local employment and productivity
• Decreased in the importing of non -biodegradable wastes in the area.
• Market demand for organic products in tourism industry.
• Increased in the productivity of per unit of land.

Pre conditions for not buying locally produced vegetables.
• Low quality of locally produced organic vegetables.
• Lack of capacity to meet the demands of hotels.
• Comparatively expensive due to lower production and land holding size.
• Lack of interrelationship between local community and hoteliers.
• Lack of awareness on environment and fair trade.

Roles of Hoteliers on production for organic vegetables
• Promotion of local products by buying them
• Developing separate menu on dishes produced from organic productions.
• Information dissemination on market opportunities to the farmers.
• Developing organic village as a tourism product.
• Educating guests on the organic products.
• Preparing the rosters of Farmers producing organic vegetables.
• Distributing chemical free wastes to the farmers as manure for vegetable products.
• Promotional and marketing.

Benefits for Hoteliers from organic vegetable production
• Increased in the service quality of the hotel with increased in
• An opportunity for building community relationship
• Contribution in the conservation of biodiversity
• Contribution in the pollution free zone.

Roles of state
• Eco certification of organic products and services.
• Incentives for hotels and farmers for producing and selling organic products.
• Increase the infrastructure to support organic farming

Roles of NGOS
• Capacity building of farmers and hotels
• Networking and coordination

Challenges on Organic farming
• Lack of coordination between the hoteliers and local community
• Lack of appropriate technology and capacity building of local farmers.
• Lack of awareness on Organic farming .
• Lack of mechanism for quality control and certification.
• Lack of chain for demand and supply
• Lack of basic infrastructure on organic farming and marketing

NETIF’s Efforts on Organic village

Background
• A Non-Government organization founded in 2006 by a group of dedicated environmentalists and tourism entrepreneurs.
• Registered as an NGO in 2008 and established bases in Kathmandu and Dhulikhel, both economic and tourism centers in Nepal.
• Works towards an economically winning combination of tourism and pristine environment.
• Facilitates the transition of rural tourism sectors towards dynamic environmental considerations

Achievements made so far
• 4 local community organizations formed in the trekking trail.
• 1 Workshop on Roles of Hoteliers on the Production and Marketing of Organic vegetables conducted.
(Highlights: Hoteliers, Government organizations, NGOs, VDC, DDC, organic Certification, Community house, Cooperatives, Hotel and Restaurants Association, Farmer Association, Kathmandu University)
• 1 Wind turbine installed in Chisapani
• Support on installation of 32 improved cooking stoves in Mulkharka
• Waste Management Fund established in the settlement s of the trekking trails.
• Regular trail cleanup campaign conducted
• 60 waste bins distributed in 2 tourism destinations (Nagarkot and Sundarijal)
• NETIF represented in APO Workshop through paper presentation on Community Based Eco tourism in Nepal.
• 3 Coordination and networking meeting conducted with National park.
• 3 Coordination meeting s conducted with stakeholders.
• 2 Surveys on Existing Waste management Problems and future Opportunities completed ( Nagarkot and Dhulikhel)
• Community house under construction.
• World Environment Day( problems in the field with plantation and protection of trees)

The way forward
• Identification and zoning of organic farming area.
• Preparation of rosters of organic farming producers
• Awareness campaign for consumers and suppliers
• Increase in the state incentive for organic farming
• Improvement of infrastructure.
• Institutional building of stakeholders to act together.
• Eco certification of organic products and hotel services.
• Declaration of Chemical fertilizer/pesticide free zone.

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.