Leaving the City Behind: A Nepali Woman Returns Home and Finds Empowerment

Sushmita Chidi, 31, along with her husband Padam Bahadur Chidi, runs a goat farm in Purbakhola, on the outskirts of the Palpa District, in central Nepal. She has an 8-year-old son and a busy household, helping also to provide for her in-laws, Mina Kumari Chidi and Bin Bahadur Chidi, starting each day around 5 a.m. with the task of fetching water.

But Sushmita’s work extends well beyond the boundaries of her home and farm: She spends half the month with her family, whereas the rest of the days, she is busy traveling in and around the village providing veterinary services to local farmers.

In an area where livelihood opportunities are limited, especially for women, Sushmita’s journey to her current role is quite notable.

Sushmita completed her education through 10^th grade, but after getting married in 2013, she experienced a brief period of unemployment that led her to migrate to the city of Rampur in hopes of earning income. There, she acquired tailoring and sewing training for seven months.

During the stay, Sushmita realized she was struggling to earn well in Rampur, despite being far away from her family. Right when she was having a lot of doubts and second thoughts, she got a phone call from her husband, who was working as a Heifer-trained community animal health worker, a position also known as community agrovet entrepreneur (CAVE). He told her their local agricultural cooperative was looking for women with at least a high school education to also complete Heifer’s CAVE training program and take up the position in the community.

Not many others in her home village fulfilled the educational requirement, and Sushmita decided she would rather work hard there with her family than struggle alone in the city. She traveled to the city of Pokhara — even taking her young child with her — for the 35-day-long CAVE training from Heifer, fulfilling training standards approved by the government.  

Through the training, Sushmita received equipment and seed funding from the cooperative to help her initiate her business. 

“I knew my daughter-in-law’s potential, so I let her do things she wanted. Now, people in the village are very much impressed with her services.” — Mina Kumari Chidi

Heifer Nepal has been actively involved in Purbakhola since 2015 and has been instrumental in Sushmita’s entrepreneurial and agricultural development. She recently completed her fourth year working as a trained community animal health worker, and the family has grown their farm as well.

Currently, they have more than 80 goats along with other livestock such as buffalo, chickens and fish. The farm yields an annual income between 250,000 and 300,000 Nepali rupees, up to $2,200, excluding expenses, which adequately sustains their household expenses. In addition to goat farming, they cultivate various vegetables like cauliflower, cabbage, potato and onion and sell them in a small grocery store they operate, generating an extra income of 20,000 to 25,000 rupees annually.

Being a woman in a traditionally male-dominated field, Sushmita has faced numerous challenges. Initially, people doubted her ability due to her gender. However, through hard work, skills, perseverance and the support of her family, she has earned the trust and respect of her community.

“People used to ask me why I’m letting my daughter-in-law work outside of the house instead of making her do the household chores,” explained Sushmita’s mother-in-law, Mina. “That didn’t bother me at all. I knew my daughter-in-law’s potential, so I let her do things she wanted. Now, people in the village are very much impressed with her services. People come looking for her because of her work, which I’m really proud of.”

In addition to running an effective goat farm with her husband, Sushmita’s career as a community animal health worker has been quite satisfying. She is committed to her work and dedicates significant time to her responsibilities, earning 20,000 to 30,000 rupees per month. Sushmita and Padam, who is still working in the role himself, both hope to receive advanced training in the future so they can learn more about the field.

Sushmita’s personal journey highlights the challenges of most youth in Nepal who are seeking opportunities outside their village, area or country. She strongly advocates against mindless migration and blindly following the crowd, emphasizing the potential for success through hard work and determination in rural areas, or anywhere one is located. She encourages women and young girls, especially, to pursue work and financial independence if they can, echoing her own journey of empowerment.

“Before people didn’t take me seriously, they used to make fun of me,” she explained. “That was the everyday remarks I received while I first started as a CAVE. It took me a while to convince people that women can also perform equally as men. I had to show it to prove it. … Whenever I used to get a chance, especially during the group meetings, I used to tell people about my CAVE training and request people to contact me if their livestock and animals need extra care.  But once people saw my work, they were impressed.”