SNV's Vegetable Value Chain Programme has benefited over 1500 households in 119 farmers’ groups, increasing sales of their vegetables dramatically. Added to that, 70% of these beneficiaries are women. And one of the most popular aspects of this programme, is its ability to link farmer groups to schools and other institutes.

SNV's work covers the whole vegetable value chain. On the production side, scope of work includes:

• Provision of seeds, watering devices and administration tools

• Monitoring and motivational visits to all groups

• Studies in water saving technology, seed selection, and cost of production

On the marketing side, work includes:

• Business to Business (B2B) meetings, banks

• Record and book keeping training, leadership training

• Feasibility of federation of farmer groups

• Facilitation of contractual supply by farmer groups to schools (for video click here)

• Training on Improved harvesting & packaging (for training video click here)

Indian markets south of Bhutan also offer huge potential to Bhutanese vegetable growers for two reasons: 1) Indian markets are huge compared to the Bhutanese markets, and 2) Vegetable prices in India are high during summer due to the monsoon heat and rain. The prices triple in the summer months. Even for domestic markets, competition from Indian vegetables is much less during the summer months.

This programme is implemented under the IFAD–funded Market Access and Growth Intensification Project (MAGIP).  Key partner is the Regional Marketing and Cooperatives Office (RAMCO).