R4D Nepal

HERD folder for SAARC Conference

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 10:01:00 GMT

Miscellaneous 2009 7 pp. This is a folder distributed to participants of a SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) TB conference, describing the work of HERD (Health Research and Social Development Forum), the COMDIS partner for Nepal.

Fighting The Battle Against Disease - Leeds Researchers Take On The World

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 09:52:00 GMT

Miscellaneous 2006 Medical News Today, 02 Mar 2006 This news reports the start of the COMDIS programme fighting malaria, TB and HIV.

COMDIS Bulletin 1

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 09:46:00 GMT

Miscellaneous L. Brehmer 2009 COMDIS Bulletin 1, Autumn 2009. 6 pp. The aim of this bulletin is to allow COMDIS partners to share updates with each other. It contains information on events, activities and new projects in the COMDIS programme.

COMDIS Brochure

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 09:14:00 GMT

Miscellaneous 2009 2 pp. This updated brochure introduces the COMDIS programme on HIV, malaria and tuberculosis.

Nepal plant clinic: Sundarbazar

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 13:32:00 GMT

Miscellaneous 2009 YouTube video clip, 22 sec. The first ever chance for newly trained plant doctors in Nepal to show their skills.

Annapurna clinic: sick plants get cured

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 13:29:00 GMT

Miscellaneous 2009 YouTube video clip, 28 sec. The second plant health clinic held in Nepal, organised by the agricultural extension office based in Besishahar.

Think Big, Start Small: developing a plant health system for Nepal

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 13:20:00 GMT

Miscellaneous S. Danielsen and D. Romney 2009 26 pp. The first plant clinic pilots were initiated in Nepal in 2008 by WORLD VISION NEPAL (WVIN), SECARD and partner organisations in collaboration with the GLOBAL PLANT CLINIC (CABI, UK). Progress has been fast and the Nepalese lead organisations have already started to define a vision for a nation-wide plant health system. The development of a plant health system in Nepal follows two parallel strategies: one, through practical implementation of plant health clinics to test and adapt the model, gather experience and evidence; and two, through wider engagement of national stakeholders in plant health to encourage integration and policy dialogue.

The GLOBAL PLANT CLINIC paid a short 5.5-day visit to Nepal in May 2009 to support this development. It was an intense and fruitful visit that started with a one-day multi-stakeholder workshop in Kathmandu, followed by a visit to the plant clinic in Besishahar, which included practical exercises in monitoring and clinic register management. GPC staff visited IAAS in Sundarbazar and had in-depth discussions with WVIN and SECARD about clinic operations and strategies for plant health systems development. This report is a short summary of the visit.

Report on Sharing cum Visioning Workshop on Plant Clinic Initiative in Nepal, 8 May 2009, Kathmandu.

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 15:56:00 GMT

Miscellaneous R. K. Adhikari 2009 24 pp. This report details a workshop held in Nepal, with technical guidance from GPC, with 3 major objectives.

1. To introduce the concept of plant clinics among different stakeholders
2. To share the experience of initiatives taken to date
3. To explore a model of plant clinic operation for Nepal.

Plant Health Clinic Initiative in Nepal.

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 15:45:00 GMT

Miscellaneous R. K. Adhikari 2009 SECARD Nepal, 19 pp. This report summarises how Plant Clinics were introduced into Nepal and took up momentum with technical guidance and help from the Global Plant Clinic. Global Plant Clinic (GPC) provided the first module of how to become a plant doctor and facilitated the ever first (pilot) plant clinics in Lamjung district of Nepal in support of World Vision International Nepal.

Starting plant health clinics in Nepal.

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 15:05:00 GMT

Miscellaneous E. Boa and R. Harling 2008 World Vision International Nepal and SECARD, 23 pp. Two pilot plant health clinics in Nepal were held in December 2008 in Lamjung District, one in Sundarbazar and one in Besishahar. The clinics were run by agriculturists and rural development staff who attended module 1 of the how to become a plant doctor course run by the Global Plant Clinic (GPC) and supported by World Vision International Nepal (WVIN). The report shows that existing people and organisations in Nepal can provide farmers with the plant health services they deserve.

Blazing a trail for forest rights...in Nepal

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 01:00:00 GMT

Climate change is creating real changes in the Nepal Himalaya, and the effect is more pronounced in the mountains than in the low-lying areas. Georgina Smith visited the Sundari community to see how a DFID-funded Research into Use initiative is helping local communities to live with potential climate change induced vulnerabilities

Improving income and nutrition by incorporating mungbean in cereal fallows in the Indo-Gangetic Plains of South Asia

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 10:59:00 GMT

Completed The new improved short-duration, high yielding mungbean varieties resistant against Mungbean yellow mosaic virus were multiplied and over 51,000 tons of seed were produced and distributed to farmers.

On-farm trials by a network of public and private sector organizations in India, Bangladesh and Nepal were conducted to evaluate the improved varieties. This project follows on from R6719, Promotion of Mungbean Research Outputs for Farmer Adoption in South Asia. Farmers in the Indo-Gangetic Plains adopt and integrate the Mungbean yellow mosaic virus-resistant/tolerant, short duration mungbean cultivars in the rice-wheat cropping system

Mungbean consumption promoted in South Asia for a better balanced-diet. Methodologies to encourage adoption by farmers should be location-specific, considering socio-economic conditions and constraints of the beneficiary targets.

It is essential to recommend and demonstrate to farmers good agricultural practices to be able to reach the potential yield of the improved mungbean cultivars.

Partnerships among public, private and non-profit communities have been shown to be essential in the effort.

As a nitrogen-fixing legume, the incorporation of mungbean into cereal cropping system added Nitrogen into the soil to be used by the succeeding crops.

The iron bio-availability from mungbean consumption can be enhanced by modifying the locally existing foods.

Connecting Researchers, Journalists and Activists to Change Policy

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 01:00:00 GMT

Collaboration between researchers, journalists and activists developed through Panos Londons Relay Programme in the Northeast Indian state of Assam can create positive relationships and ultimately contribute to real policy change

Essential healthcare for newborn babies in Nepal

Wed, 04 Feb 2009 01:00:00 GMT

Refresher training of primary care workers in Makwanpur district Nepal has helped transform care for mothers and their newborn infants

Identifying barriers to TB diagnosis and treatment under a new rapid diagnostic scheme.

Fri, 23 Jan 2009 10:49:00 GMT

Current Tuberculosis is the main cause of adult death due to infection in developing countries and its diagnosis in these settings requires the examination of multiple sputum samples using smear microscopy. Although smear microscopy was described more than 100 years ago, front line facilities still rely on it as a low cost, relatively simple and robust diagnostic test in the absence of alternatives. Despite its widespread use, microscopy has substantial limitations: it is insensitive, identifying only 40% to 75% of adults with pulmonary tuberculosis and the examination of multiple specimens is costly in time and economic expense for both services and patients. The disease disproportionately affects poor populations in remote areas and individuals often have to travel long distances and sell personal assets to access services. Many patients are unaware of the number of days required for diagnosis and, as several visits are necessary, are unable to adhere. As patients can only initiate treatment if they have been formally diagnosed, improving the efficiency of the process is crucial for increasing access to treatment. Improved diagnostic efficiency could be achieved by modifying the way sputum specimens are processed in order to increase the sensitivity of microscopy, examining a reduced number of specimens and accelerating the collection of samples to within a single day. The purpose of this study is to identify barriers to Tuberculosis (TB) treatment uptake and strengthen the evidence that accelerated diagnostic schemes lead to increased access to treatment in high incidence countries. The study will, in populations with high TB incidence:
1. Identify barriers preventing adults from completing the diagnostic process for TB when examined through new accelerated schemes.
2. Establish whether accelerated schemes for diagnosis results in an increased uptake of TB treatment.
3. Identify changes required by health services to address these barriers.

Tropical forests in poverty alleviation: from household data to global-comparative analysis

Thu, 15 Jan 2009 10:53:00 GMT

Current Forests are important to the rural livelihoods of poor people in developing countries. But due to the paucity of quality data on rural household economies in the tropics and sub-tropics, we know very little about just how important forests are, for what specific purposes they primarily serve, and for how many people forests are vital assets. This impedes the design of effective strategies for forest-based poverty alleviation. This project aims to fill these serious empirical gaps by using a uniform methodology to gather high-quality primary household data in about 25 sites with tropics-wide coverage. The global data bank (5-6000 households) with complete annualized income information and other economic and non-economic data will be used for a global-comparative analysis of forest-poverty linkages in rural household economies. Our goal is to analyse the general importance of various forest types in different aspects of rural livelihoods, identify major causes of geographical variation, and point to tangible options for interventions that actively enhance forest-based poverty alleviation. Specifically, we will test for hypotheses related to the alleged pro-poor role of market integration and of collective forest mangement at the local level. The data will also enable tests of broader microeconomic hypotheses regarding the role of natural resources in rural livelihoods, e.g. to what extent natural resources serve as seasonal gap-fillers, as safety nets in response to shocks, and as means of accumulating assets that eventually can lift people out of poverty. The project is integrated into the Poverty and Environment Network (PEN), coordinated by the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR). PEN is an ongoing collaborative research effort between CIFOR, a network of PhD students, and external experts from ten universities including the University of East Anglia. PEN data collection is already advanced; we thus seek financial support over a three-year period mainly to establish a global data bank, to undertake the global-comparative data analysis, and to carry out synthesis & dissemination work. Research results will be communicated through a variety of media to the main intended beneficiaries that include academia, donors, multilaterals, and policy makers at different levels. The primary project objective is:
I. To undertake a comprehensive global-comparative analysis of the role of forests and environmental income in preventing and reducing rural poverty, built on a centrally coordinated pan-tropical data bank with high-quality primary household and village data collected though PEN (research outputs);
The secondary project objectives are:
II. To elaborate recommendations for tangible forest-poverty interventions, and feed them into national and global policy processes (policy impacts);
III. To enhance the ability of project partners in using best-practice methods for conducting income-accounting rural household surveys, and to suggest improved research methodologies for future studies of environmental incomes and rural livelihoods (capacity building and methodological innovation).

Priority problems of forest dependent poor people in a conflict situation in Nepal: an update report

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 14:39:00 GMT

Completed This survey provided an update of the 2003 report (ZF0172). It focused on understanding how the escalating violent conflict in Nepal has affected livelihoods and reconfigured the structure of livelihood problems. The survey documented perceived priority problems of the forest and tree-dependent poor by service providers and the poor themselves.

Problem Survey Nepal

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 12:07:00 GMT

Completed The survey identified the problems related to the causes of poverty in Nepal, focusing on the forest and tree-dependent poor. The main issues identified were related to finance (access to credit), society/culture (caste, large families) and governance (corrupt officials). The report was translated into Nepali and widely distributed.

Tracing Pharmaceuticals in South Asia: Regulation, Distribution and Consumption

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Current

This research aims to investigate how the pharmaceutical supply chain and health care delivery systems in three South Asian case studies in practice compare with national regulatory standards and international best practice; whether (and if so, to what extent) pharmaceutical misuse hinders efforts to reach key Millennium Development Goals (MDGs); what policy changes might improve the situation.

We plan to do this

(a) by developing a new framework for research on the socio-economic dynamics of pharmaceuticals, integrating the insights of discussions in anthropology of global assemblages and in political economy of global commodity chains;
(b) by contributing to theories of global interdependency, integrating 'bottom-up' and 'top-down' approaches to the local and global contexts through specific case-studies; and
(c) by developing new approaches to global policy-making on pharmaceuticals in order better to help reduce pharmaceutical misuse and contribute to poverty reduction strategies and key MDG programmes.

Specifically, this project will:

1. map patterns of production, distribution, marketing and retail of three key generic drugs (oxytocin, rifampicin and fluoxetine) in three regions of South Asia (Nepal, West Bengal [WB] and Uttar Pradesh [UP]). Oxytocin is given to women to augment the birthing process. Rifampicin is the main bacteriocidal drug used in the treatment of tuberculosis. Fluoxetine (Prozac) is a widely-used medication for depression and other mental illnesses. Our existing knowledge suggests high levels of informal and unregulated use of each of these drugs, which impinge on different global strategies for health, with different priorities for action. By mapping and comparing these trajectories, we will introduce new perspectives on the dynamics of pharmaceuticals in developing countries.
2. assess use of these three drugs in the light of current international standards of best practice. We will highlight systematically those areas where drugs are being used inappropriately. This may include: production of fake drugs; cross-border trafficking; shortfalls in supply; inappropriate prescriptions by certified and non-certified medical practitioners; improper over-the-counter sales by pharmacists; unsupervised self-medications by patients. Since each of the drugs is regulated in different ways, we will show where international guidelines are adhered to, where these guidelines are ignored, and where critical areas of actual practice are not even in the purview of health policy.
3. relate these processes to public health goals (maternal health, infectious diseases, and mental health) and the poverty reduction agenda. In each field, the uses of the drugs illuminate wider health dynamics. We aim to show how oxytocin, rifampicin and fluoxetine (as exemplars for wider adioption) can be better embedded in global development partnerships, and thereby contribute to policy improvements.
4. contribute to theoretical and methodological debates in public health, medical anthropology and political economy. We are a strongly interdisciplinary team, able to bring together ideas from these disciplines. We will combine social, cultural and public health policy analyses with those of political economy, and synthesize ideas from these different disciplines into a coherent framework for further studies on pharmaceuticals in developing countries.

Improving Perinatal Care to Reduce Infant and Child Mortality in Poor Communities.

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Ongoing The mission of the International Perinatal Care Unit is to promote the health, nutrition and welfare of children and their families in less developed countries. The research aims to develop the scientific basis for improvement in clinical and public health management regimes using robust epidemiological, laboratory and social science methodologies focusing on perinatal health.

Factors affecting uptake and adoption of outputs of crop protection research in vegetable systems in India, Bangladesh and Nepal

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Completed The vegetable sub-sector is an important part of agriculture in Nepal, Bangladesh and India, because vegetables are a relatively high value crop, compared with staples, pulses and oilseeds. A wide range of vegetables is grown throughout the sub-continent, and the area under vegetables and value of production have kept pace with increases in population, and subsequent demand, over the past decade. Over the next 25 years, large urban influxes are projected, so the demand for cheap, good quality vegetables in and around cities will be high. Given these conditions, increased developmental support for the vegetable section is timely, and could be directed towards bringing long-term social and economic benefits for poor producers and consumers. One of the main areas to be addressed in vegetable crop protection, concerns the application of pesticides, predominantly insecticides. Pesticide use in these countries is low, compared to the usage in developed countries, but sales of pesticides have increased significantly since the 1980s. Furthermore, increasing numbers of farmers are over-using pesticides, causing environmental and health problems for themselves, their families, consumers, and the environment. The CPP is currently addressing two important problems in vegetable crop production, which are relevant to India and Bangladesh. The first, in NE India, involves the development of improved pest control technologies for dry season vegetables, particularly eggplants (brinjal) (R7071), and the second relates to the sustainable management of whitefly and tomato leaf curl virus on tomato in India (R6627). Project outputs include a series of technical recommendations that, if followed, should produce better and more consistent yields, as well as reduce pesticide use in the field, and pesticide residues in the crops. This programme development study will produce recommendations which will assist in the promotion of outputs from these projects to a wider audience. Promotion of pro-poor strategies to reduce the impact of key pests, improve yield and quality of crops, and reduce pesticide hazards in high potential and land water production systems. The project has identified important uptake and adoption constraints to crop protection technologies by growers in the three countries. The investigations produced information on specific constraints, which could be addressed through further promotion/dissemination or farmer-training. Gaps in suitable crop protection technologies for particular pests were also identified, as were gaps in our knowledge (eg: the constraints on the Resource Poor Growers with respect to vegetables) which could not be determined within the temporal or financial limitations of this project; and recommendations for further research were made to address them. Resource paper on technologies and factors affecting uptake and adoption of outputs of crop protection research in vegetable systems in the three countries.

Final report with recommendations for more effective targetting of IPM research and dissemination, and uptake of available effective techniques in future CPP/DFID projects in relation to the needs of resource-poor farmers. The study consisted of four components: (1) a literature review, (2) a review of current and recent vegetable projects, (3) a stakeholder workshop, and (4) a pilot field survey conducted in Nepal and Bangladesh. A large number of actual or potential technical, social and economic uptake and adoption constraints to the uptake of vegetable crop protection methods were identified through the four studies. These were discussed in detail in separate annexes and the findings summarised in the main body of the Final Technical Report. Recommendations were made to assist CPP and other donors to address the main technical, social and economic constraints.

Ecotourism, conservation and sustainable development in the Sagamatha National Park (SNP), Nepal.

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Completed The 97,200 inhabitants of the Solu-Khumbu district are increasingly dependant on tourist visits to the National Park for their livelihoods. The number of tourists visiting Nepal has been rising significantly, and research indicates that 25,000-50,000 tourists are likely to frequent the Everest region annually (a two-fold increase in visitor numbers). Given the lack of infrastructure, this is not sustainable unless local institutional arrangements for managing tourism, conservation and development are significantly strengthened. In 1998, a seminar at the British Council, funded by DFID, was convened in Kathmandu to discuss tourism impacts, and alternative mechanisms for strengthening rural livelihoods through sustainable tourism and conservation in the region. It concluded that sustainable tourism and conservation at this site required a more co-ordinated and inclusive planning and management approach. This project was developed as a result of the recommendations from this seminar. Certain households and communities within the Solu-Khumbu have benefitted a great deal from tourism, but many poorer socio-economic groups have not, including those which reside in marginalised communities within the park and to the south of the district. This project is timely, as it will coincide with the 25th anniversary of the SNP in 2001. It also offers significant potential to promote good practice in other World Heritage sites and protected areas. Nepal is one of the least developed countries in the world - some 40-60% of its population survive on incomes below that of absolute poverty. This number is increasing, and has now reached nine million. The vast majority of the Nepalese population earn their livelihood from agriculture and tourism. Further, Nepal's high tourism potential is dependent upon improved planning and management, better tourism infrastructure, and reversing the environmental degradation in and around its national parks. The government department which has responsibility for management of protected areas has little effective management capacity, no working policy instructions, suffers from shared responsibilities, a lack of co-ordination with other agencies of HMG and with local communities, and has substantial unmet needs. To design a project which would provide management assistance to the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation of Nepal. * A strategy to develop a revised management plan for the SNP.
* A proposed tourism strategy for the Solu-Khumbu District.
* A programme of training and identification of resources for the SNP administration.
* A programme of community-based training and participation.
* A series of proposed infrastructure projects.

NRSP Symposium and Research workshop - Renewable Natural Resource Management for Mountain Communities

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Completed The renewable natural resources of mountains and hillsides are fragile and precarious and this makes them sensitive to changes imposed by human land use, local environmental conditions and external factors such as conflicts and political instability. There is now a growing body of knowledge and research experience that show how renewable natural resources on mountains and hillsides can be managed effectively and sustainably. To provide a platform for researchers to disseminate key research findings to interested stakeholders nationally, regionally and internationally, and to discuss future agendas in renewable natural resources management with a view to informing current developmental debates on sustainability, livelihoods, poverty reduction, food security and environmental change. A public symposium and research workshop on renewable natural resources management of mountains and hillsides was held in Nepal for researchers from the Hindu-Kush Himalaya region to interact with NRSP Hillsides researchers, disseminate key research findings and discuss future agendas for research. Policy-makers were also involved and a book published jointly with ICIMOD of the case studies and key findings. The exchange of knowledge at the symposium and workshop (24/25 February and 26 February to 1 March 2003, Nepal) led to the production of a range of recommendations for the prioritisation of future research.

Multiple micronutrient supplements and the prevention of newborn deaths

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 01:00:00 GMT

Should a policy recommending that pregnant women take a combination of vitamins and minerals to improve the weights and outcomes of their babies be introduced?

Biopesticide Production Units Established in India and Nepal Help Control Cotton Bollworm

Tue, 23 Oct 2007 01:00:00 GMT

An ICRISAT project has developed the production of a biopesticide from cotton bollworm (Helicoverpa armigera) larvae to protect crops from the pest itself

Getting help with child birth can be costly

Thu, 18 Oct 2007 01:00:00 GMT

Following an assessment of the costs of seeking help during child birth in terms of size and impact on households in Nepal, a programme compensating women attending facilities for care during delivery has been introduced

Deadline for submitting proposals for RIU's Challenge Fund is noon on 30 September

Thu, 27 Sep 2007 01:00:00 GMT

A newsflash from the Research into Use (RIU) team provides useful guidance on submitting proposals for the Challenge Fund, based on an interview with Dr Frances Kimmins

Equitable irrigation for the poor of Nepal

Tue, 19 Dec 2006 01:00:00 GMT

DFID-funded research results in more equitable distribution of water to poor farmers

Reducing CO₂ Emissions with Family-Hydro

Wed, 04 Jan 2006 01:00:00 GMT

Project R8150 worked to stimulate the family-hydro market by reducing installation costs.

Landslide Risk Warning for Mountain Communities and Rural Infrastructure Planning

Wed, 04 Jan 2006 01:00:00 GMT

Planning for landslides is critical in safeguarding livelihoods and rural development in many mountain regions...

Small-Scale Irrigation Can Sustain Rural Livelihoods

Wed, 04 Jan 2006 01:00:00 GMT

DFID-funded research has found that small-scale irrigated agriculture can contribute to food security and rural prosperity...

R4D Nepal

HERD folder for SAARC Conference

Fighting The Battle Against Disease - Leeds Researchers Take On The World

COMDIS Bulletin 1

COMDIS Brochure

Nepal plant clinic: Sundarbazar

Annapurna clinic: sick plants get cured

Think Big, Start Small: developing a plant health system for Nepal

Report on Sharing cum Visioning Workshop on Plant Clinic Initiative in Nepal, 8 May 2009, Kathmandu.

Plant Health Clinic Initiative in Nepal.

Starting plant health clinics in Nepal.

Blazing a trail for forest rights...in Nepal

Improving income and nutrition by incorporating mungbean in cereal fallows in the Indo-Gangetic Plains of South Asia

Connecting Researchers, Journalists and Activists to Change Policy

Essential healthcare for newborn babies in Nepal

Identifying barriers to TB diagnosis and treatment under a new rapid diagnostic scheme.

Tropical forests in poverty alleviation: from household data to global-comparative analysis

Priority problems of forest dependent poor people in a conflict situation in Nepal: an update report

Problem Survey Nepal

Tracing Pharmaceuticals in South Asia: Regulation, Distribution and Consumption

Improving Perinatal Care to Reduce Infant and Child Mortality in Poor Communities.

Factors affecting uptake and adoption of outputs of crop protection research in vegetable systems in India, Bangladesh and Nepal

Ecotourism, conservation and sustainable development in the Sagamatha National Park (SNP), Nepal.

NRSP Symposium and Research workshop - Renewable Natural Resource Management for Mountain Communities

Multiple micronutrient supplements and the prevention of newborn deaths

Biopesticide Production Units Established in India and Nepal Help Control Cotton Bollworm

Getting help with child birth can be costly

Deadline for submitting proposals for RIU's Challenge Fund is noon on 30 September

Equitable irrigation for the poor of Nepal

Reducing CO2 Emissions with Family-Hydro

Landslide Risk Warning for Mountain Communities and Rural Infrastructure Planning

Small-Scale Irrigation Can Sustain Rural Livelihoods

Reducing CO₂ Emissions with Family-Hydro