In Bailbas Chiran Tole, a village in rural Nepal, 26 women meet once a month under the thatched roof of the group leader's home. One by one, they put NPR 100 (about US$0.65) into a shared fund. They record loan repayments on a sheet of paper and consider new requests. If several women need money, they discuss who needs it most. They prioritize those with an emergency. In just 2 years, this credit and savings group has helped them move away from precarious daily wage jobs and even build their … [Read more...] about How Savings & Credit Groups Help Rural Women in Nepal Build Financial Independence
Women in Agriculture
What a Woman Farmer Sees Behind the Camera: Sumitra’s First Steps with Community Storytelling
Sumitra recently released her first film, shedding light on the long, often overlooked days of women farmers in Nepal - a daily reality she knows intimately. At 4 a.m. on a humid monsoon day, Sumitra was already awake. To catch the 7 a.m. bus to her filmmaking sessions, she first had to finish her household chores and farm work. When she returned in the evening, more work waited for her at home. For the 33-year-old farmer and mother, learning to make films had to fit around … [Read more...] about What a Woman Farmer Sees Behind the Camera: Sumitra’s First Steps with Community Storytelling
The Farmer Who Doubled Her Harvest Without Chemicals in Two Years – Agroecology in Ghana
In northern Ghana, Fuseina spent years watching fertilizer costs rise while her yields fell. Her life took a turn when she joined an Agroecology Committee in 2025, discovering and helping to spread practices that transformed her land. Written by Salma Abdul-Rashid, Urbanet Torope, Central Gonja District, Ghana — Fuseina Dokurugu is a 40-year-old smallholder farmer and mother of seven from Torope. She has farmed since childhood, relying on her three-acre plots as her primary source of … [Read more...] about The Farmer Who Doubled Her Harvest Without Chemicals in Two Years – Agroecology in Ghana
As Fertilizer Prices Rise, Agroecology Offers a More Resilient Path for Farmers
Authors: Sarah Sahlaney and Chandi Guntupalli At Groundswell International, we often talk about how our network builds farmer self-reliance. In an increasingly interconnected world, why does this matter for farmers, their families, and communities? Recent news, and Usha's story, show why self-reliance is such a valuable goal. Throughout April and May, ships carrying hundreds of tons of chemical fertilizers sat in the Gulf of Hormuz, unable to reach their final … [Read more...] about As Fertilizer Prices Rise, Agroecology Offers a More Resilient Path for Farmers
What Happens When a Farmer Stops Buying Seeds, Fertilizers and Pesticides?
Radhika Mahato is a smallholder farmer in Sarlahi, Nepal. For years, she farmed the way most people around her did: one crop at a time, with chemical pesticides from the local shop, and she would buy most vegetables at the market. Most farming decisions were made by male family members, and she used to travel a long way to her field to farm every day. That started to change when she joined hands-on training sessions run by our local partner RWUA (Rural Women's Upliftment Association). The … [Read more...] about What Happens When a Farmer Stops Buying Seeds, Fertilizers and Pesticides?
In Nepal’s Terai Region, Women Farmers are Taking Back Control of their Seeds
In Sarlahi, a district in Nepal’s Terai region, women farmers are rebuilding control over their food supply by taking back ownership of their seeds. Their work is helping to protect generations of agricultural knowledge at risk of being lost forever. Until the 1990s, Nepal was a seed-exporting country. Today, it imports 90% of its vegetable seeds, and of the 4,300 rice varieties its farmers cultivated over decades, only around 150 remain. The shift began in the 1980s, when hybrid seeds … [Read more...] about In Nepal’s Terai Region, Women Farmers are Taking Back Control of their Seeds