Resources

Nepal’s potential in the tourism sector, particularly in trekking, has been hampered by a lack of product development and consistency in quality standards. This sector brief explores the unveiling of Nepal’s first Trail Standards Guidelines and the certification of eleven new internationally recognised trail auditors in Nepal. The purpose of this intervention will be to define quality standards for the GHT brand leading to a better product - improved experience, safety and sustainability on trekking trails. 

Nepal could lose more than 300,000 tourists this year as a result of the April 25 earthquake and its aftershocks which forced mass departure of tourists and prompted many to change their travel plans.

The Aid Industry has come on a long way in the 11 years since the Asian Tsunami, especially in the development of cash-based recovery mechanisms. These were very much in their infancy then, but are commonplace now in situations where conditions such as functional markets, and access to them, deems them to be appropriate. Today there are several toolkits and platforms to help programmes manage cash and voucher schemes, and toolkits to help implementers2.

Limited product diversity is one of the major constraints in the dairy processing sector having a direct bearing on the dairy farmers for their secured access to a milk market. Most processors focus exclusively in fluid milk business which comprises almost 90% of their business. 

Making Molehills out of Mountains

The benefits of mechanization to smallholders have been known ever since hand was first put to ard over eight thousand years ago.  Since then there has been a steady evolution of technology into the leviathan tractors we see today which incorporate satellite technology and automatic steering. 

An eight-day adventure travel guide training programme, the first of its kind in Nepal, was organized by Samarth-NMDP in co-ordination with Trekking Agencies Association of Nepal (TAAN), Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) and Wilderness Medical Associates International starting 13^th June, 2016 to 20^th June, 2016.

Samarth-NMDP facilitated a dialogue between the government (Ministry of Culture, Tourism & Civil Aviation) and the private sector (TAAN, NMA, NATTA & others) on the development of the Great Himalaya Trails as a brand. As a result, GHT brand has been incorporated in the action plan of Nepal Tourism Strategy 2015-2024 and the Ministry of Culture, Tourism & Civil Aviation has allocated a designated budget to it.  

http://thegreathimalayatrail.org/

Field assessments and surveys indicate outreach is 72,000 farmers and small scale entrepreneurs with an average net attributable income change (NAIC) across the portfolio of £25 per person. This is just shy of the outreach target for Year 3 (75,000) but below the £80 target for NAIC.