Under the Green Rooftop Farming- Water for Life project, ENPHO with the support of UN-Habitat and in collaboration with Madhyapur Thimi Municipality organized ‘Kausi Kheti Mela’ on 14th March 2022 at Dui Pokhari, Madhyapur Thimi Municipality (MTM), Bhaktapur. The major objective of the Mela was to encourage people of Madhyapur Thimi to promote greenery along with disseminating information on various possible technologies and products related to Rooftop Farming (RTF).
The Mela started from the formal program which was commenced in the chairmanship of Mr. Madansunder Shrestha, Mayor, Madhyapur Thimi Municipality. Ms. Radhika Shakya, Social Worker and RTF Promoter resided as Chief Guest at the Mela. Mr. Basu Dev Thapa, Mayor, Suryavinayak Municipality, Ms. Pragya Pradhan, Program Coordinator, UN-Habitat; Ms. Bhawana Sharma, Executive Director, ENPHO, Mr. Gyan Ram Shrestha, Vice President, Ratriya Bibhuti Shakhadhar Shakhwa Pratisthan and Ms. Shubha Laxmi Prajapati, Member, MTM were also present as special guest during the program.
Mr. Tulsi Bhakta Tako, Officer, Community Development Unit, MTM during his welcome remarks heartily welcomed all the participants for their presence and engagement at the event. The welcome remarks were followed by formal inauguration of the program where Ms. Shakya, Chief Guest inaugurated the Mela by applying compost and watering the plants. Ms. Bhawana Sharma during her special remarks, stated that kausi farming would be the viable option for wastewater and waste management at the household level. She further highlighted that RTF Trainer Manual, published by ENPHO under the project will further help in promotion and awareness raising on RTF and also thanked organizations and individuals for their contribution to greenery promotion.
Similarly, Mayor of Suryabinayak Municipality, Mr. Basudev Thapa stressed that rooftop farming can be initiated with less amount of budget, and even proudly shared that Suryavinayak Municipality has allocated budget for RTF promotion at their municipality. Ms. Pragya Pradhan, during her remarks, underlined RTF as opportunity for women for income generation and also told that this can help in reducing urban pollution.
Following the special remarks, RTF Trainer Manual, published by ENPHO under the Green Rooftop Farming- Water for Life project was officially launched by the Chairperson, Chief Guests and Special Guests at the event.
During the formal program, four different organizations contributing for greenery management and environment conservation were honored and the best rooftop farmers from the project area were rewarded with trophies and prizes. With this, certificate of participation was handed over all the exhibiters/stalls by the chief guest for their active participation and contribution to make the RTF Mela successful.
After the rewarding ceremony, Ms. Shakya, Chief Guest mentioned that she has also been doing rooftop farming at her home and remarked that, if all municipalities start promoting rooftop farming, then there will be no need to import inorganic vegetables. She further focused on how rooftop farming can help in promoting greenery in the city. With this, the program was concluded with the closing remarks by Chairperson, Mr. Madan Sunder Shrestha, Mayor, MTM.
Altogether, 22 different organizations placed there stalls and participated at the Kausi Kheti Mela. At the Mela, Stalls showcased various technologies and products related to RTF, solid waste management, Rain Water Harvesting technologies, Photo exhibition, Documentary show, and IEC materials. The visitors showed keen interest to learn the proper methods of rooftop farming and demanded RTF training for their community.
About 2000 visitors from the community, women’s group, agricultural group, students, and teachers of various colleges and schools within the Thimi Municipality visited and observed the Kausi Kheti Mela.
