One small step: Empowering micro, small and medium businesses across South Asia
RERP, Nepal Story published 1 July 2020 on https://www.ifad.org/en/web/latest/story/asset/41983830
After years of toiling away in Saudi Arabia, Ram Bahadur Bhandari returned to his native Nepal. He wanted to put the skills he’d developed abroad to good use. The answer came through an encounter with the IFAD-supported Samriddhi project during a workshop on agricultural supply chain development.
Ram wanted to set up a centre to sell fresh produce in Sunsari district. He had enough funds to get started, but he needed to source the fruits and vegetables. That’s where the project came in. “Samriddhi coordinated with farmers’ groups. The initial agreement was for vegetables produced by seven groups. I couldn’t have set up the business so quickly if it hadn’t been for the project’s support,” he says.
Today, Bimbika, as his centre is called, collects six tonnes of produce every day from 800 producer groups – and Ram is adding even more groups to his list. He jointly owns 30 sales outlets across four cities with young migrant returnees, and employs five people at Bimbika and another 30 at the outlets. He plans to open more stores in Dhankuta and Kathmandu to accelerate business and deliver vegetables safely, without spoilage, from farm to consumer.
