Selected Grantees

Hemp is the future. We all know about its production benefits but what about the current waste generated by the hemp industry in Nepal? Manisha and John hope to build on the potential hemp bring to sustainable consumption. 

The duo is working on a new way of incorporating hemp into the market which can introduce finer and better-quality products which appeal to a wider/modern demand. And this too through reclaimed waste from the existing hemp and other clothing industries. They are currently reliant on other workshops to create products, but with the In Our Hands grants, Manisha and John will be able to secure key resources to fulfil their ambitions.   

From nuisance to nurturer. As a team of ecologists and engineers, Anu, Nischal and Manoj hope to use nature-based solutions to conserve biodiversity and support wetland restoration while creating benefits for the community through a social enterprise. The team hopes to conserve and promote the fragile ecosystem by managing invasive species of water lettuce that occupy water bodies across the country. Prototyping Jalkumbi growing in Nagdaha into liquid fertiliser and insecticide, the initiative employs local youth to produce agro-resources within a community which relies predominantly on agrarian income. 

Artist and Entrepreneur Priyanka from Nepalgunj hopes to collaborate with communities in her locality and across Tarai to help support women gain economic independence through crafts. She wants to upcycle and reuse the discarded textiles commonly found in every household to create accessories, decoration items and much more. This initiative aims to revive cultural outputs that have been replaced by the introduction of new materials like plastics.

Rajiya wants to work with the Chepang community to setup a nature-based, community-run industry that will produce products such as paper from agro wastes. Rajiya’s idea promotes traditional indigenous knowledge and enhances the capacity of the locals to archive and industrialize their skills and local available resources to recycle leftover stalk of Amrisso plant, used to make broom, and contribute towards zero waste as well as circular and creative green economy.

Samriddhi comes from a family who has run a paper factory for more than three decades. She believes she can introduce new materials and help the Lokta production become less dependent on ingredients that are now rarer because of climate change. Lokta paper production employs great many people who are vulnerable to the economic impact of a restrictive supply chain. By employing agro and timber waste she hopes to champion a more sustainable paper production. 

Tayama has a vision to create eco-friendly carbon-neutral building materials incorporating cow dung ash. She aims to provide an alternative source of income for Nepali smallholder farmers and an alternate to the existing brick kilns, which contributes to 37% percent of the country’s CO2 emission. Her bricks made up of cow dung ash and limestone are net zero carbon products.