Project meeting in Cooch Behar

The Rupantar project team convened in Cooch Behar from the 21st – 24th May for our Annual Review and Planning Meeting. This meeting was very productive, and there was enthusiastic participation from all participants. Dr Eric Huttner and Dr Pratibha Singh from ACIAR attended the meeting. It was excellent to have five team members from Koshi Province, Nepal, join us for the first time, and the activity plans for this location are subsequently well progressed.

We had ample time to discuss the outputs from Objective 1, including the Case Study synthesis. We also heard from local stakeholders, which enriched our understanding of the key messages. This was supported by a first view of some of the baseline survey results which will help to build the context for the project pathway locations. These results will also be valuable as status briefs for each location, and the Nepal team are interested to help them inform provincial planning for diversification. There was also time to progress activities for Objective 2 – planning for pathway implementation in each location. This will be further progressed in a field visit in the second half of August.

In addition to progressing the above activities, we engaged in stimulating discussions around transformation and what it means for Rupantar; gendered elements of diversification options; and ways to monitor change, which were all very valuable in helping frame future project activities. Overall, the project meeting contributed to team building and progressed activities as needed, and the project is in excellent shape to ensure pathway implementation in all locations by the end of 2023 as planned.