Capacity building of Self Reliant Groups and Women Cooperatives in Bardiya, Nepal SUMMARY
This project builds on the EC funded ""Free Kamaiya Livelihood Development Project” (2008 – 2012) and aims to set up saving and loans groups for women, with the ultimate objective to rehabilitate 37,500 children from 7,500 Free Kamaiya families. 
An assessment of the 319 Self Reliant Groups (SRGs) formed revealed that the groups were improving the livelihood of their members. The study also concluded that most groups were not yet functioning independently.  
A new project phase was started in September 2013 to address this gap. This project, ""Capacity building of SRGs and Women Cooperatives”, supports SRG members with skills, knowledge and capabilities to establish and manage inclusive Savings and Credit cooperatives, with the overall aim to alleviate poverty among 11.825 Free Kamaiya families and other vulnerable groups in Bardiya and their 47.300 children. The Government of Nepal abolished the Kamaiya bonded labour system in July 2000 and thousands of Kamaiya families were set free from this system. Evicted from their landowners, they had no other productive asset but their manual skills and were not prepared to build a livelihood from scratch.
With the financial support of the European Union, PLAN NEPAL implemented the “Free Kamaiya Livelihood Development Project” (FKLDP)in Bardiya district from January 2008 to December 2012 to contribute to the rehabilitation of 37,500 children from 7,500 free Kamaiya families by developing a livelihood free of poverty and servitude, a.o. by facilitating the provision of financial services to the beneficiaries and building their capacity to manage small loans and developed their technical skills. 
The project was able to organize 7702 free Kamaiyawomen into 319 Self Reliant Groups (SRGs) spread over 28 Village Development Committees (VDCs) and one municipality (Gulariya) in Bardiya district. Group members started saving money on a monthly basis, each SRG was linked to one of the 4 branches of a private micro-finance institution which were opened during the project. During the course of the intervention, members started saving money and borrowing from the bank to engage into productive activities.
Although the final evaluation in 2013 learnt that most of the output and outcome indicators were met, especially by organizing free Kamaiya women into SRGs and initiate some income generating activities, the families were yet to increase food production and to generate sufficient income for their families. The income generating opportunities were limited and almost exclusively linked to agriculture. The size of the land they owned or occupied was very small. Many were wage labourers for local farmers, sharecroppers (sometimes cultivating the land of the same landlord they were bonded to) or they migrate to neighboring India on a seasonal basis. The household production hardly meet their annual household food needs as they followed traditional farming system. Most of the households had less than adequate income to meet household requirement including meeting expenses for educating children and spending on medication when they fall sick. Besides many Free Kamaiya women especially younger women were not enrolled in SRGs as yet and continued borrowing from the local money lenders at a high interest rate for their emergency needs. They continue to be indebted and remain in poverty. A mapping of the 219 SRGs formed under the project showed that these are playing a key role in improving the livelihood of their members and raising their level of confidence but most of them were still not mature and strong enough. In the absence of a specific dynamic aimed at further building their financial and technical capacities there was a high risk they would collapse. A mapping in 2013 of the 219 SRGs formed under the FKLDP project showed that these were playing a key role in improving the livelihood of their members and raising their level of confidence but most of them were still not mature and strong enough. In the absence of a specific dynamic aimed at further building their financial and technical capacities there was a high risk they would collapse.
The current project was designed in 2013/4 to build further on the  FKLDP project and especially bring the SRGs towards a level of sustainability and facilitate further processes especially strengthen the community structures and relevant government services to enhance the livelihoods of vulnerable families towards more sustainability. The sustainability of the action will rest on the institutionalization of SRGs into 29 village Women Saving and Credit Cooperatives. The Overall Objective is to contribute to lifting out of poverty of 11825 Free Kamaiya families and other vulnerable groups of Bardiya district to realize the full potential of their 47.300 children. Village level meetings of all Self Reliant Group members will be organized  The meeting will discuss and finalize processes for the formation of the Women saving and credit Cooperatives. Plan will organize sub-sector analysis workshops in each village to find out economic sub-sectors that have comparative and competitive advantage of the SRG members and that of their family. SRG members will be provided with entrepreneurship skills to undertake the economic activities that are advantageous to them. They will be organized in the thematic enterprising groups such as production groups and are provided with technical backstopping and market access.  The SRGs will be facilitate and trained to form into 29 Women Cooperatives and learn how to manage these. Regular technical backstopping will be provided by the project staffs of Plan and partners. Originally was designed for three years (2013-2016). However, at the end of the intended project period an assessment was done which showed that although the institutionalization of the Self Reliant Group into 29 Women Cooperatives was achieved, more than half of the Women Cooperatives were still too weak to be self-sufficient and sustainable. Hence it was decided to extend the project with addional budget to further support and train the management and members of the SRGs and Women Cooperatives to enhance the sustainability of the 29 Women Cooperatives and further support its members into developing small businnesses to achieve the overall goal of the project. The final evaluation of the project end of 2018 showed that the set target (80% or 23 of the Women Cooperatives are sustainable) has been met.