Medicinal Plants and Herbs: Developing Sustainable Supply Chain and Enhancing Rural Livelihoods in Eastern Himalayas

The project aims to establish community based enterprises to promote appropriate production and post-harvest technologies and marketing strategies for the medicinal plants value chain in the three countries to enhance livelihoods and conserve the natural resource base. The project will also develop strategies and recommendations to harmonise regional standards and protocols to improve quality, and control the use of fake products and substitutes in the market through interventions including enabling policies, legal reforms, stricter regulatory mechanism and technology transfer. This will improve the marketing skills and bargaining power of local micro-enterprises and producers’ associations in the region and provide viable and sustainable income generation options to local communities. The project will also develop and promote models of good practice in niche-based transformation and development of resource poor producer communities to improve livelihood and reduce poverty in isolated areas of the three beneficiary countries. The project midterm review took place in November 2009. Capacity building has been promoted. Farmers were trained in medicinal plants and herbal products production and collectors have been trained in the post harvest management practices. Furthermore, construction of Common Facility Centre has been promoted especially in Nepal and Bhutan. This project will be completed in October 2012.