It was a pleasure to meet Her Excellency Felicity Volk, the Australian Ambassador to Nepal, in Kathmandu on the 19th of August.

Tamara Jackson traveled to Bangladesh from the 20th to the 24th of August to meet with project partners. The first stop was Rangpur Dinajpur Rural Service (RDRS) in Rangpur, where it was excellent to meet with RDRS staff and get updates on their work in Rupantar and other ACIAR projects.

In a meeting with the Ministry of Land Management, Agriculture and Cooperative (MoLMAC) in Province 1 on August 17, key pressures in the local system were discussed. This includes include high levels of emigration, which results in decreased interest and engagement in agriculture as well as labor shortages.

The two private partners from Province 1 of Nepal, Nepal Multipurpose Cooperative Society (NMC-COOP) and Jeevan Bikas Samaj (JBS), have consistently worked to create an environment that supports sustainable agriculture.