Strengthening Nepal Yak Federation governance and mapping of grazing areas of Nepal

Organisers: Yak Chauri Federation of Nepal; Department of Livestock Services, Government of Nepal and ICIMOD

About the event

In collaboration with the Department of Livestock Services under the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development (MoALD), Government of Nepal and ICIMOD, the Yak and Chauri Farmers’ Federation Nepal is organising a workshop to strengthen their governance and map out the grazing areas in a participatory way. The assembly will bring together committee members from 27 district chapters of the federation, where they will discuss and revise their constitution as well as map out the pastures of their respective districts to further examine their status and trend of use.

Objectives

• Revise and endorse the constitution of Yak and Chauri Farmers’ Federation Nepal
• Understand the extent of shrub encroachment into traditional pasture areas in Nepal
• Develop a comparative analysis of the two-decadal changes in availability, quality, and trend of changes of grazing areas (pastures) through participatory mapping
• Map out the temporal and spatial migration patterns of the herder communities and pasture uses
• Gather information on areas where wildlife and domestic livestock compete for fodder/forage

Expected outputs

• A new federal committee will be formed including the representation from newly formed provincial and district chapters of federation. The revised constitution of the institution will be endorsed.
• The extent of shrub encroachment into traditional pasture areas in Nepal will be known
• A comparative analysis of the two-decadal changes in availability, quality, and trend of changes of grazing areas will be carried out
• The temporal and spatial migration patterns of the herder communities and pasture uses will be delineated
• Information of areas where wildlife and domestic livestock compete for fodder/forage will be gathered

Background

In collaboration with the MoALD, Government of Nepal and the Department of Livestock Services (DLS), ICIMOD organised a national meeting to formalise the Nepal Yak Federation (याक तथा चौँरी कृषक महासंघ, नेपाल) on 2-3 October 2023. The Yak and Chauri Farmers Federation, Nepal was formalised as a community-based organisation. Since then, provincial committees of the federation have been formed in five provinces of Nepal. A secretariat has been established in Kathmandu for effective implementation of federation’s plans. As the federation expands its reach, key government and private stakeholders have started to recognise and include the federation in their planning processes. The two-years strategic action plan (2023-2024) of the federation includes organising first general assembly as one of the key actions for this year. The assembly aims to strengthen the federation’s governance and streamline working mechanisms and processes. The increased capacity of the Nepal Yak Federation will be a yardstick for the strengthening of user-led institutions, one of the key milestones of AAD2 during the current MTAP. In addition, participatory mapping of pasture is another key deliverable of AAD 2 for 2024. We intend to generate information on the qualitative and quantitative aspects of rangelands extent and degradation issues.