Carers Cooperatives: Women Leading Change in Rural Nepal

FEB 2, 2025

Across Nepal’s rural hills, women caring for family members with mental illness or disabilities work tirelessly yet remain unseen and unpaid. LEADS Nepal through Carers Cooperatives is changing that, turning unpaid

care work into productive, income-generating opportunities that bring dignity, inclusion, and hope.

What Are Carers Cooperatives?

Carers Cooperatives are women-led community organisations that support family carers to build livelihoods in their own villages. These cooperatives mobilize savings, manage small enterprises, and Reinvest profits to improve local wellbeing. Under the guidance of LEADS Nepal, the cooperatives run a range of community-based enterprises such as:

• Carers Agri-products Collection Centres – where carers can sell their small-scale farm products, vegetables, and fruits locally, earning quick income for urgent family needs like education and health.
• Ginger processing and value addition – producing dried slices, powder, and pickles for markets in Pokhara and Kathmandu.
• Beekeeping and honey processing – using forest flora for natural honey production.
• Goat and poultry raising, fruit planting, village grocery shops,and vegetable gardening and marketing – small but reliable income sources managed collectively through the cooperatives.

These activities ensure that carers can earn a living while staying close to their families and fulfilling their care responsibilities.

Empowering Women Carers

Through continuous training, women carers gain practical skills in production, packaging, bookkeeping, and cooperative leadership. They learn to manage enterprises, link with local markets, and make independent

financial decisions.

Many now lead cooperative boards and are recognised by municipalities as community change agents.

Sustainability and Local Ownership

All profits are reinvested into revolving cooperative funds for equipment maintenance, replanting, and enterprise growth. Municipalities and local communities contribute in-kind support such as workspace, co funding, and technical advice ensuring sustainability beyond donor assistance.

These cooperatives directly advance the Sustainable Development Goals on No Poverty, Gender Equality, Decent Work, and Reduced Inequalities. Through the growing network of Carers Cooperatives in Baglung, Myagdi, and Nawalpur, LEADS Nepal continues to uphold its mission:

“Mental Health. Livelihoods. Dignity.”