Public Policy for Social and Solidarity Economy A Case Study from Nepal Submitted By: Ripu M. Kunwar, Ram P. Acharya, Geeta Khadka, Bishnu H. Poudyal, Sita Shahi, Suman Dhakal, Sunil Pariyar and Bhola Bhattarai Practical Solution Consultancy Nepal Pvt. Ltd (PSPL) Min Bhawan, Kathmandu, Ph: 00977 1 4620373, Email: [email protected] www.psplnepal.org in association with Federation for Community Forestry Users Nepal (FECOFUN), Kathmandu Dalit Alliance for Natural Resources (DANAR), Kathmandu National Forum for Advocacy, Nepal (NAFAN), Kathmandu Submitted to: Center for International Studies and Cooperation (CECI) & UNITERRA, Kathmandu, Nepal February 2013 Public Policy for Social and Solidarity Economy: A Case Study from Nepal TABLE OF CONTENTS ACRONYMS & ABBREVIATIONS .................................................................................................................................... 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................................................................................................... 6 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ..................................................................................................................................................... 7 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................................... 10 1.1 BACKGROUND ......................................................................................................................................... 10 1.2 GOAL OF SOCIAL SOLIDARITY ECONOMY ....................................................................................................... 11 1.3 JUSTIFICATION OF STUDY ........................................................................................................................... 11 1.4 OBJECTIVE OF STUDY ................................................................................................................................ 11 1.5 METHODOLOGY ....................................................................................................................................... 12 1.5.1 Approaches ..................................................................................................................................... 12 1.5.1.1 Inclusive, Participatory, Consultative and Multi-Perspective (Poly-vocal) ...................................... 12 1.5.1.2 Building on current experience—experiential learning as a building block .................................... 12 1.5.1.3 Stakeholder engagement and communication ................................................................................... 12 1.5.2 Study methods ................................................................................................................................ 12 1.5.2.1 Literature review.................................................................................................................................. 12 1.5.2.2 Sample case and selection criteria ...................................................................................................... 13 1.5.2.3 Study area and sites ............................................................................................................................. 14 1.5.2.4 Consultations ........................................................................................................................................ 15 1.5.2.5 Field visits ............................................................................................................................................. 16 1.5.2.6 Information and data analysis ............................................................................................................. 16 1.5.2.7 Case study analysis ............................................................................................................................... 16 1.5.3 Limitation of the study ................................................................................................................... 17 CHAPTER 2. STATE OF THE FIELD ............................................................................................................................... 18 2.1 NEPAL: THE COUNTRY ............................................................................................................................ 18 2.2 CONTEXT ............................................................................................................................................... 19 2.3 DEVOLUTION OF SOCIAL SOLIDARITY ECONOMY ........................................................................................... 19 2.4 SOCIAL SOLIDARITY ECONOMY IN NEPAL .................................................................................................. 21 2.5 SOCIAL SOLIDARITY ECONOMY ORGANIZATIONS ....................................................................................... 21 2.5.1 Cooperatives ................................................................................................................................... 22 2.5.2 Community-based organizations (CBOs) ...................................................................................... 23 2.5.3 Mutual benefit societies ................................................................................................................. 23 2.5.4 Social enterprises ........................................................................................................................... 24 2.5.5 NGOs and federations .................................................................................................................... 24 CHAPTER 3. CASE STUDY ORGANIZATION (CSO) ................................................................................................. 25 3.1 BAMBOO WORKERS UNION, BADIKHEL, LALITPUR ....................................................................................... 25 3.2 CHEPANG/PRAJA MULTIPURPOSE COOPERATIVE LIMITED, CHITWAN ............................................................. 29 3.3 EVEREST GATEWAY HERBS PRIVATE LIMITED, DOLAKHA .............................................................................. 32 3.4 HOME-BASED WOMEN WORKERS COOPERATIVE, KATHMANDU ................................................................... 36 3.5 SONAHA GROUPS, BARDIA....................................................................................................................... 41 3.6 YOUTH AND SMALL ENTREPRENEURS SELF-EMPLOYMENT FUND, KATHMANDU .......................................... 44 CHAPTER 4. KEY FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND WAY FORWARD ................................................................. 48 4.1 KEY FINDINGS ....................................................................................................................................... 48 4.1.1 SSE organizations .......................................................................................................................... 48 4.1.2 SSE and Job creation ..................................................................................................................... 49 4.1.3 Gender, equity, inclusiveness and environment concerns in SSE ............................................... 49 4.1.4 Sustainability of SSE...................................................................................................................... 49 4.1.5 Scope of applicability ..................................................................................................................... 50 4.2 CONCLUSION .......................................................................................................................................... 50 4.3 WAY FORWARD ..................................................................................................................................... 52 CHAPTER 5. REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................................. 53 2 PSPL/FECOFUN/NAFAN/DANAR, Kathmandu and CECI/UNITERRA, Kathmandu Public Policy for Social and Solidarity Economy: A Case Study from Nepal List of Tables Table 1: Main characteristics of social economy organizations ........................................................... 10 Table 2: Free listed sample cases and their selection criteria ......................................................... 13 Table 3: Final cases and their analyst ................................................................................................ 14 Table 4: Facts about Nepal .................................................................................................................. 18 Table 5: Enabling environment for SSE development in Nepal ........................................................... 20 Table 6: List of collaborating institutions of BWU ............................................................................ 26 Table 7 : List of Cooperatives promoted by HBWCSN ...................................................................... 38 Table 8: International conventions related to HBWs ....................................................................... 39 List of Figures Figure 1: Study area and sites .............................................................................................................. 14 Figure 2: Consultations for study ......................................................................................................