SAWTEE, Pro Public and ICIMOD jointly to organized two-day residential workshops at two sites entitled " Economic Liberalization, Farmers' Rights and Mountain Development Strategies" during April 18-19, 2002 and May 4-5, 2002 at Town Development Training Centre, Pokhara, Kaski and High View Resort, Dhulikhel, Kavrepalanchowk , Nepal respectively. 

 The theme of the workshops "Economic Liberalization, Farmers' Rights and Mountain Development Strategies" was purposively chosen to highlight the present concerns of mountain development paradigms and sensitize the participants, especially mountain farming communities, about the twin burning issues of economic liberalization and free market policies of the government. The policy shift of the government has various adverse impacts on the national economy and trade, particularly on the livelihoods of the  small and marginal farmers in hills and mountain regions of the country. The workshops were specifically organized to point out the lacuna in the donor driven policies of government's and recommend the authorities at the helm of affairs to formulate appropriate mountain development strategies to minimize and overcome the negative impacts on the impoverished people and fragile ecosystems of the mountain region.

 Thus, the overall objective of the workshops was to contribute to defining the rights of the mountain communities to secure livelihoods through appropriate development policies and programs to be adopted in the changing context of economic liberalization, globalization and World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements. However, the specific objectives were to:

Gain better understanding of key issues related to farmers’ rights.

Establish contact with a diversity of institutions working in mountain areas especially, which have a role to play in devising specific policies related to farmers’ right.

Assess the level of awareness among farmers about their rights;

Identify individuals/organizations who could form close partnership with Pro Public, SAWTEE and ICIMOD to support the Farmers' Rights Program.

Altogether 83 participants (39 at Pokhara and 44 Dhulikhel) representing mountain farmers, researchers and development workers based at farming community level, government and non-government sectors, and media persons participated in the workshops.

The broad issues discussed at the workshops were:

1. Traditional and Indigenous knowledge and skill;

2. Access to market, seeds and other essential inputs;

3. Farmers rights; and

4. Mountain development strategies

The following conclusions were reached after participatory discussion in the workshops:

1. Participants of workshops expressed the views that the mountain region has not received due priority in the national development plans implemented in the past. The livelihoods of the mountain people, especially farming households have been threatened due to decreasing productivity of lands and government supports. The participants were of the opinion that unless the government makes mountain specific policies and programs the mountain communities will not be able to continue their traditional farming occupations. It was further observed that the majority of farmer participants were not aware of the government policy shift after the adoption of liberalized economic polices and still demanding the subsidies in agriculture.

2. The participants showed their concerns for deteriorating conditions of local bio-diversities of crops and animals in the country. The main reasons for fast disappearance of local varieties of the crops and animal breeds are due to lack of national policies and programs for conservation and utilization of the genetic resources.

3. There was an overwhelming interests and responses from the participants, particularly from the farmers and media persons regarding the farmers rights. The participants expressed their discomfort with the liberalized economic and free market policies with out necessary legal and administrative mechanism to protect the rights of farmers and consumers in the changed context due lack of commitments and institutional incapability of the government to implement the liberal economic and marketing policies.

4. All the representative stakeholders unanimously demanded the government should immediately review the agricultural trade and industrial policies, which have badly affected the small producer farmers. The low tariff rates should be raised to discourage the dumping of cheap produces from the neighboring countries and the third countries to protect their livelihoods by restructuring the existing import tariff rates and protecting the domestic markets.

5. Agriculture is the only means of livelihood for more than 80 percent households of the country. The rights of those people must be defined by laws and must be guaranteed as the fundamental rights of farmers.

6. The participants were of the opinion that the mountain people and the regions have been neglected by the planners while formulating the national development plans in the past and due attention should paid in the Tenth Five Year Development Plan.