Agriculture employs three-quarters of Nepal’s population and contributes one-third of the national GDP. However, of the 2.7 million smallholder farmers in Nepal, less than 5% have access to on-demand irrigation, affordable financing or awareness about commercial agriculture. Consequently, the majority of the farmers practice subsistence farming, make less than $2 a day and live under poverty.
To address some of these challenges, Gham Power has developed an integrated solution called –Yield Improvement in a Box-that provides farmers with reliable irrigation through solar water pumps, easy and affordable financing, and knowledge of modern agricultural practices through personalized agri-advisory. In pilot studies, these interventions have shown to increase the productivity and farming income by up-to 80% within three years. With the IWMI Innovation Fund Grant, Gham Power will further refine the technology and develop key partnerships that will help scale the adoption and impact of solar irrigation solutions in Nepal and the border South Asian market.
The Off Grid Bazaar (OGB)- A digital project management and service delivery platform https://www.offgridbazaar.com/
Key Project Staff
Anjal Niraula is the CEO at Gham Power and is a renewable energy expert. He is also a member of the Future Energy Leader’s group with the World Energy Council where he works with the energy access taskforce.
Arya Manandar is the Communications Officer and assists the project implementation team in reporting and knowledge management, including donor and investor relationships.
Wandana Shakya is the Marketing Executive and is responsible for managing offline and online marketing activities to help build branding and promotions.
Joshna Silwal is the Senior Administrative Manager, with over four years’ experience and she is responsible for overseeing the administrative, logistic, financial and operational aspects of the project.
Bishwaraj Bhattarai is the Project Manager and has nearly five years’ research experience in the renewable energy sector.
Kiran Timilsina is the Agri-Analytics Officer and guides the end-users to mitigate their agriculture constraints for profitable farming.
Kabita Poudel is the Lead Project Engineer with nearly three years’ experience in engineering and is mostly engaged in designing on-grid and off-grid PV systems along with solar water pumping systems.