Winrock International in Nepal_ARC

REPSO Nepal

Winrock International has been working in Nepal to increase access to clean energy through public awareness raising and capacity building since the establishment of Renewable Energy Program Support Office (REPSO) in 1997. Winrock International REPSO Nepal provides Results-Focused, Human-Centered, Science-Based and Market-Driven technical and financial assistance for the promotion and scaling up of Renewable Energy Technologies (RETs) in Nepal. REPSO Nepal’s experience and expertise ensures that energy projects are well designed, use the appropriate technology and are sustainable.

Winrock International REPSO Nepal provides full range of services including feasibility studies, financing strategies, project design and implementation, technology and market assessments, developing project pipelines and mobilizing investments, reforming energy planning and policy to building capacity of governments, communities, financial institutions, and the private sector. In addition, REPSO Nepal has been supporting the commercial generation of power from distributed energy systems such as small hydropower, solar photovoltaic, grid electrification and wind to increase the rural population’s access to electricity (rural electrification), and had substantially promoted clean transportation, micro-finance, and decentralized energy through biogas. REPSO Nepal has made significant contribution in unlocking credit financing for renewable energy promotion and productive end use. Solid waste management project in Ilam was successful in managing municipal solid waste through public private partnership. Carbon trading and capacity building of national and sub-national government, bank and financial institutions and private companies has been nuclease to REPSO Nepal’s work in Nepal.

KISAN II

Knowledge-Based Integrated Sustainable Agriculture in Nepal (KISAN) II is a five-year project and is part of USAID’s global Feed the Future initiative working to advance
food security objectives through increased agricultural productivity. KISAN II coordinates closely with the private sector and Government of Nepal (GON)’s
Ministry of Agriculture, Land Management and Cooperatives, targeting farming households and private sector actors in 25 districts in the West, Mid-West and Far-West regions, and earthquake-affected
districts in the Central region.

The KISAN II approach focuses on market systems and private-sector actors while employing

  1. push strategies to build the capacity of poor farmers and individuals to participate in intensification, diversification, and value addition activities
  2. pull strategies to increase the demand for smallholder production, labor, and related goods and services and improve the affordability and accessibility of skills,
    resources, inputs, and supporting services needed to participate in competitive markets.

KISAN II is implemented in collaboration with five organizations as subcontractors:

  • Development Project Service Center (DEPROSC)
  • Center for Environmental and Agricultural Policy, Research, Extension and Development (CEAPRED)
  • Overseas Strategic Consulting, Ltd. (OSC)
  • Digital Green Foundation
  • Siddhartha Connecting Inc. Pvt. Ltd. (Siddharthinc)

Objectives

KISAN II aims to increase resilience, inclusiveness and sustainability of income growth within the Feed the Future Zone of Influence.

Activities

KISAN II’s tailored approach will empower and graduate farming households into more productive, reliable, and profitable agricultural enterprises.

KISAN II’s main activities include:

  • Increasing adoption of profitable, productivity enhancing, and climate-smart technologies and Good Agricultural Practices (GAP).
  • Strengthening lead firms and other SMEs to provide improved quality or increased availability of agriculture inputs, enhanced
    production or post-harvest practices and technologies, improved market access or information, and increased availability of financing.
  • Building the capacity for GON policies and regulation to support market systems development.
  • Enhancing literacy and business development skills, especially among vulnerable groups.

KISAN II utilizes a Partnership and Innovation Fund, to buy down the risk for lead firms to upgrade market strategies, create mutually beneficial contract farming
and out-grower schemes, and catalyze the involvement of women and disadvantaged groups.

Results

Over the life of the project, KISAN II will facilitate systematic changes that include:

  1. greater climate smart intensification of staple crops and diversification into higher-value commodities
  2. strengthened local market systems to support more competitive and resilient value chains and agricultural-related businesses
  3. an improved enabling environment for agricultural market systems
Hamro Samman

Trafficking-in-Persons (TIP) is a complex problem that requires multi-stakeholder, multi-disciplinary solutions. Nepal is a source, transit, and destination country for human trafficking for sexual exploitation, forced labor and organ removal. Some studies have estimated that a quarter of a million Nepalis are in forced labor or other forms of trafficking at any given time, with millions more vulnerable due to poverty, lack of employment and other livelihood opportunities, and a lack of information about trafficking and services for victims and survivors.

The Hamro Samman Activity, which means “Our Dignity” in Nepali, is generously supported by the American and British people through USAID and UK aid and implemented by Winrock International. It builds upon other programs to support and leverage the efforts of Government of Nepal, civil society, and the private sector to counter trafficking-in-persons in Nepal.

Geographic Focus

Hamro Samman targets three provinces, ten districts and 36 local governments to implement activities that generate scalable solutions for replication in other districts. These areas include: Province 3 – Makwanpur, Nuwakot, Sindhupalchowk, and Kathmandu; Province 5 – Rupendehi, Kapilbastu, Banke, and Bardiya; and Province 7 – Kailali and Kanchanpur.

Objectives

Using the “4P” framework—Prevention, Protection, Prosecution, and Partnership—the five-year, $14m Hamro Samman Activity brings together various stakeholders and implementing partners to reduce the prevalence of trafficking-in-persons through three objectives:

  1. Strengthen federal, provincial and local Governmentof Nepal (GON) efforts to combat human trafficking
  2. Improve Civil Society Organization (CSO) advocacyand engagement to address human trafficking
  3. Increase private sector partnerships to serve trafficking survivors and at-risk populations

Strategic Approach

Hamro Samman will achieve the objectives through a strategic approach that will:

  • institutionalize linkages between federal, provincial and local level government, civil society, and private sector stakeholders by strengthening government coordination between national and sub-national stakeholders and strengthening civil society networks
  • technical, advocacy and service delivery partnerships with civil society organizations including AATWIN, AMKAS, CeLRRd, FWLD, LACC, Maiti Nepal, NBI, NNSM, PPR, PNCC, SAN, Saathi,Shakti Samuha, Biswas Nepal, SAFAL Partners P.Ltd., Rojgari Services P. Ltd.
  • leverage private sector partnerships

Supporting Partners to Strengthen TIP Services

By the end of the project in July 2022, Hamro Samman aims to achieve the following results:

  • Legislative and policy framework strengthened
  • Committees to Control Human Trafficking at local, provincial and federal level strengthened to collect and use trafficking data for better policy, enforcement and services
  • Knowledge of what works and what does not to reduce human trafficking increased by action research
  • At-risk individuals reached with anti-TIP information through media campaigns
  • Better quality, survivor-informed services delivered by Government, CSO and private sector
  • Number of TIP cases identified increased
  • CSO capacity improved for advocacy and engagement on CTIP
  • Private sector partnerships increased to provide services and referrals through TIP networks
  • Entrepreneurial skills and employment opportunities increased for at-risk individuals