The UK aid funded Community Support Programme (CSP) is helping rural communities in Nepal lift themselves out of poverty. In its tenth year now, the CSP is helping people living in remotes areas of Nepal to grow and sell their crops to feed their families, send their children to school and pay for healthcare.

Father-of-three Daya Ram Tharu, 38, was given help buying more expensive seeds and advised how to plant and grow vegetables and fruits. He used to earn about 5,000 rupees per three-month season from rice and maize on his small patch of land but his family now make R33,000 (about £200) from more expensive crops such as cabbages and tomatoes.

“We used to make very little money and all my children worked in the fields because I could not afford to give them an education. Without this help, I would still be a very poor man.

“I now make enough to pay for them to have English language lessons. I don’t want them to be poor farmers like me. I want them to get jobs away from the village.

“I am also paying in instalments for a pumping system to get water from the ground to irrigate my crops. This will mean I can grow fruit and vegetables all year round and can afford to run my farm without help.”

To find out more on how we’re helping farmers through the CSP, vist: www.dfid.gov.uk/Stories/Case-Studies/2013/Nepal-Community...