Nepal Country Platform
Identification of national partners
Five organisations were selected as partner organisations to implement project activities of the Prolinnova Nepal initiative: Local Initiatives for Biodiversity, Research and Development (LI-BIRD); Intermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG); Sustainable Soil Management Programme (SSMP) implemented by Helvetas in collaboration with Department of Agriculture; CARE Nepal; and Ecological Service Centre (EcoScentre).
LI-BIRD is the country secretariat office of the initiative and its Executive Director is the Country Platform Co-ordinator. A Working Group (WG) comprising representatives from all partner organisations was also formed to co-ordinate implementation of the project activities. The Country Platform Co-ordinator has been appointed to Chair the WG.
Communication and information
A summary sheet of the Prolinnova Nepal initiative has been prepared to share information about the initiative with organisations involved in research and development programmes. The information sheet has been distributed to the collaborative partners and other organisations interested in the initiative.
Partner organisations’ meeting
A meeting of partner organisations was organised by LI-BIRD on 14th May 2004 in Kathmandu to brief representatives of these organisations about the concept, objectives, working approach and resources of the project. The meeting discussed planned activities and the allocated budget, and built a common consensus on these.
Formation of National Steering Committee
A National Steering Committee (NSC) comprising senior decision-makers was formed to steer and oversee the Prolinnova Nepal initiative. The Country Platform Co-ordinator has been appointed as member secretary of the NSC. The NSC includes members from: Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC), Department of Agriculture, Department of Forest, Department of Soil Conservation and Watershed Management, Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science (IAAS), National Planning Commission (NPC), and one representative of Prolinnova Nepal partner organisations.
Formulation of management procedures
The meeting of the partner organisations (Activity 3) also discussed and agreed on preliminary management procedures for the operation of the NSC and WG, and implementation of project activities. The NSC was treated as apex body to steer and oversee the country platform. The WG was assigned the task of co-ordinating implementation of field activities through a Local Working Group (LWG). The LWG will be responsible for the implementation of the field activities and working with the farming communities and the innovator farmers. The NSC will meet twice a year and the working group will meet three to four times a year as necessary.
PID capacity building – training of facilitators
Two persons, one from the secretariat office (LI-BIRD) and another from Ecological Service Centre (EcoScentre) participated in a two-week training of facilitators in Participatory Innovation Development (PID) held at the International Institute of Rural Reconstruction (IIRR) in the Philippines. Both trainees have signed a learning contract and have committed themselves to become resource persons for PID training to be organised for partner organisations.