The report documents the EnLiFT2 activities and achievements made during July 2021-June 2022. The project activities and priorities have followed the revised project document, reflecting the recommendations of the MTR.
The report documents the EnLiFT2 activities and achievements made during July 2021-June 2022. The project activities and priorities have followed the revised project document, reflecting the recommendations of the MTR.
This report documents the third reporting year (July 2020-June 2021) of EnLiFT2. Previous reports recorded good progress despite significant challenges due to delayed inception and the COVID19 lockdown that began in 24 March 2020. Since then, there have been two more waves of the epidemic (peaking October 2020 and May 2021), over 8,700 deaths and community transmission still active in all districts. Localised lockdowns and restrictions are still in effect at time of writing this report.
This provides a summary of EnLiFT2 Project achievements and reflections, an estimation of the extent to which the project has achieved outcomes of each objective.
The EnLiFT project undertook an early in-country Mid-Term Review (MTR) on 12-22 January 2015. A comprehensive report of the review process was received on 22 February from the review team, Tony Bartlett and Don Gilmour. The project team has taken almost 2 months to determine our response to the MTR because another cycle of discussion was required since then Action Research planning meetings that immediately followed the review. The EnLiFT executive team, indeed the whole project, is very grateful for the time and effort that the MTR team has invested in our project. We trust this response is complete and satisfactory and that ACIAR will approve our decisions.
Now completing its fourth year, the EnLiFT project has achieved all its scheduled outputs, and in addition sponsored and helped organise a National Silviculture Workshop in collaboration with the Department of Forests, Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation .
This 3-day workshop resulted in 31 recommendations that will inform much needed forest policy reforms.
The EnLiFT project has, in its third year, managed to achieve all its scheduled outputs despite the significant challenges of: 1] dealing with the aftermath of the major earthquakes of 25 April and 12 May 2015; 2] the fuel blockade imposed by India from September 2015 to February 2016; and 3] a prolonged winter drought that only broke in last week of May 2016. In the agroforestry domain,,the project has completed a participatory market chain appraisal of agroforestry products, trained farmers to develop business plans for these products, undertaken further promotion of nurseries and demonstration plantings, and documented the barriers to the commercialisation of agroforestry trees in Nepal.
The year 2014-2015 has brought significant changes to the project implementation structure and outputs, following the mid-term review process and also in view of changing policy contexts and exceptional events that influenced the project direction. The EnLiFT project team has been fully engaged with on-ground activity, has re-structured the expected delivery of outputs, and faced with the task of adapting to the consequences of the series of major earthquakes beginning 25th April 2015. Research teams have also produced
The project has made important progress in various aspects of fieldwork, enhancing clarity of roles, improved communication channels, and defining procedures for research and research communication activities. The significant achievements of this first year concern the development of working relationships among project researchers, stakeholders, participating landholders and community forestry user groups (CFUGs). We have worked through some of the vagaries of roles, responsibility and accountability that existed after the Inception workshop by appointing an in-country project leader, Dr Naya Sharma Paudel, 3 Research Group Leaders, 5 disciplinary leaders (modelling; market; institutions, access and equity; policy; GIS;) and 2 activity coordinators (baseline survey; field action research).