wwoofnepal.org ::wwoofing opportunities on Organic Farms In Nepal

Do you have a farm? A small house with an extra room? A small garden and a shed for buffalos, bulls, cows and goats next to your home? Maybe you need help with your work? Did you know that it is possible to have foreign volunteers come to help you with your everyday tasks?

Indeed, there are many foreigners from all around the world interested in experiencing work at your farm as a volunteer. These people arrive in Nepal especially to help where they can, for at least 2 weeks and up to 6 months. They learn from Nepalese people and live as if they were part of the family. They are ready to wake up early in the morning, and to help the family with work in both the home and farm. Sometimes they also go to schools to teach English or learn how to do traditional Nepalese crafts. They work for free, usually for about 4 to 6 hours everyday and all they ask in return is a place to sleep, food and the chance to learn. Would you like to use their free help and let them experience the Nepalese culture and lifestyle in return? Are you interested in welcoming them into your home and family?

How is this possible?

To enable this special exchange of free work for the opportunity to learn, WWOOF Nepal was established in July 2003. This organization coordinates a volunteer work exchange program in order to promote organic agriculture in Nepal.

WWOOF Nepal is a part of the International Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF) network that began in the UK in 1970 and is now known throughout the world as WWOOF. In Nepal we act as a registered NGO with the District Administration Office in Kathmandu and we are affiliated with the Social Welfare Council of Nepal.

In the near future we are planning to expand WWOOF to India and to join Nepal and India WWOOF into one organisation in 2007. This will jointly benefit both hosts and volunteers in Nepal and India . This will enable Nepalese and Indian farmers who are members WWOOF to share their experiences with each other and to visit each others’ farms. Similarly, the volunteers can come to work and experience both countries for a joint membership fee and receive all information from a single booklet.

In the same way as the rest of the world, we here in Nepal should also be more aware of the dangers and the unsuitability of conventional agriculture and the need to find better agricultural methods to protect our land. For more information about the international WWOOF network please view the website: www.wwoof.org. To learn about the mission and activities of WWOOF in Nepal you can access: www.angelfire.com/folk/wwoofnepal and www.wwoofnepal.org.

How WWOOF Nepal works:

WWOOF membership for all farmers, small organic businesses and all other hosting establishments is absolutely free of charge. All expenses connected with coordination and promotion of WWOOF Nepal are financed from the membership fees paid by the foreign volunteers.

All you have to do to benefit from the WWOOF network is to fill in an application form with details about your farm and later on provide the volunteers who want to come and stay with you with a room and food.

The information from your application form is included in the WWOOF Nepal booklet. This booklet is handed out to the foreign volunteers after receipt of their membership fees. Similarly to other countries around the world, the volunteers have to pay a membership fee of about US $30 for an individual and US $40 for a couple.

After becoming a member of WWOOF Nepal the foreign volunteers can study the details about all farms and hosts and decide where they would like to help. Our experience has been that apart from organic farming, young foreigners are interested in many things like teaching English at local schools, helping at small industrial workshops, making traditional food, drinks and medical products, and handicraft etc.

The help you get from the volunteers can be anything from sowing, weeding, making compost, gardening, planting, cutting wood, making mud bricks, harvesting, fencing, and building, to packing, milking, feeding or even cooking. The arrangement of the work is just up to you and the volunteers. The main rule is that the work done does not harm our environment and remains as chemical-free as possible.

After the volunteers read the booklet and chose to come to your farm, they can either contact you directly or through the WWOOF coordinator in Kathmandu to arrange their stay with you.

The Principles of WWOOF Work Exchange

WWOOF offers a unique opportunity to share knowledge, skills and information. Joining WWOOF Nepal allows both you and the visiting volunteer to learn from each other. The purpose of WWOOFing in short, is to help organic farmers and eco-friendly businesses to overcome the problem of a shortage of seasonal and sometimes affordable skilled labour, and to give volunteers “hands-on” experience in farming and self-sufficient living. This also encourages travelling as a means of cultural exchange and as a learning opportunity rather than only for simple tourism.

The WWOOF work exchange follows the same principles all over the world. WWOOFing is unpaid volunteer work which aims too support farms and businesses that do not pollute our country with chemicals and unnecessary waste. Volunteers normally work 4-6 hours a day, 6 days a week. The working time may also depend on the type of work and most hosts and volunteers arrange their own ways of working.

A fair exchange is about 30 working hours within a schedule convenient both for the hosts and the volunteers. Some volunteers may even be able to contribute small amounts towards their food costs. The volunteers should also have one whole day off every week in order to relax and explore the place where they stay.

The length of the individual stays is to be agreed upon by the hosts and volunteers. It can be anywhere between 1 week and even a year according to the host’s needs and the volunteer’s availability.

Many volunteers come from very good family backgrounds, they are often university graduates and have various work experience from their countries. Some of them have already learnt a lot about organic farming, others know office and computer work, programming, website design or are qualified to teach English, thus for the basic cost of simple meals and accommodation we can get very good help in various areas of our farming and businesses.

In addition, by watching each other’s everyday lives - how we eat, how we work, how we speak and behave in society, volunteers, just like their hosts enjoy an interesting cultural exchange as an extra benefit of WWOOFing. Some hosts and their volunteers even make life-long friendships and keep in contact with each other after the volunteers return to their home country.

For WWOOF hosts:

We at WWOOF Nepal also arrange countrywide meetings for farmers and other WWOOF hosts to share their experience with Western volunteers within the network and to promote WWOOF hosting to all other Nepali farmers.

WWOOF Nepal and the Organic World

Organic agriculture is currently among the fastest growing business sectors in the world. Growth rates of organic land are impressive in Europe , Latin America , USA , Australia and Asia . The total area of organic land has tripled in Europe and the USA between 1995 and 2000. Over the last 5 years in Argentina , organic land area increased by 1280%. Cuba has adopted organic agriculture as a part of its official agriculture policy, with substantial investments in research and development. In countries such as Austria , Finland , Italy and Sweden a high proportion of organic land is managed by farmers who do not sell their products as “organic”. In Sweden , organically farmed land represents 14% of total agricultural land. However, only 7% of this area is certified as “organic”.

Sweden is also the only country in the European Union where organic farmers receive support from their government without being certified as “organic”.

Other countries use ecological tourism as a tool for the transition to organic farming.

One thing however remains the same everywhere - organic agricultural work is a long-term task and does not promise major financial profits immediately. Similarly, consumers buy organic food mainly for its well-known nutritious value and environmental benefits rather than because it is available at a cheap price.

In Nepal there is no support from the government and very little information available. Therefore we in WWOOF Nepal want to help promote and develop our own Nepalese organic farming methods, starting first from the private and non-governmental sector and then hopefully moving toward government supported organic initiatives.

How can you contribute to the vision of an “Organic Nepal ” in association with WWOOF?

Maybe you are worried if one small farm or workshop, buffalo or cow can make any difference to our environment? WWOOF is not about the size of a farm or your business, but about your initiative to start growing your own chemical free vegetables and fruits.

To become a member of WWOOF it is enough to have a keen interest in organic farming or any other chemical-free production. By welcoming WWOOF volunteers we can together contribute to the growth of the organic movement as Nepalese farmers, craftsmen and small businesses.

With kind regard,

The WWOOF Nepal team.

Online Application Form

With many greetings and thanks,

F. D. Regmi

Coordinator

WWOOF Nepal

GPO BOX 8973

NPC 840

Kathmandu

Nepal

Phone: 00977-4363418 or 2150588 4363652

Cell: 00977-9841400921

Email: wwoofnepal@gmail.com