National Workshop on Roof Top Farming

Clean Energy Nepal and Kathmandu Metropolitan City jointly organized a National Level Workshop on Roof Top Farming (RTF) in Hotel Himalaya on 29th February, 2016. The workshop was organized to share the outcomes of the project and conduct consultation on possibilities of RTF in Kathmandu. With the objective of sharing the existing Roof Top Farming practices and also to discuss on the opportunities and challenges of roof top farming practices in the Kathmandu Valley, Clean Energy Nepal with Welthungerhilfe and Kathmandu Metropolitan City organized National sharing workshop on Roof Top Farming. The workshop was attended by numerous stakeholders of Roof Top Farming and Urban Agriculture.

The opening session was inaugurated by Honorable Minister Bishwendra Paswan. Chief guest Hon’ble Minister Bishwendra Paswan, in his special remarks stated that in many countries Roof Top Farming is being promoted for environment conservation. He thanked CEN for organizing the workshop in such a relevant and important issue.

In the program Mr. Gopi Krishna Khanal, Mr. Rudra Singh Timilsina of KMC, former Environment Minister Mr. Ganesh Shah, Mr. Bharat Basnet shared their views regarding foof top farming. They opined that rooftop farming (RTF) helps to reduce generation of waste, to produce organic food and to increase self dependency on vegetables and fruits.

Ms. Sanu Maya Maharjan, Officer from KMC, Mrs. Shreejana Shakya, ENPHO and Mr. Kamal Raj Gosai, ED of CEN presented shared their findings on the project conducted by KMC, ENPHO and CEN respectively. The presentations focussed on the potentiality of the roof top farming and its current practices and projects being implemented.

Mr. Dilip Shrestha and Ms Goma Baral spoke their experience on practicing RTF. They stated that the training conducted by CEN was effective and learnt various new knowledge .

The panel discussion was moderated by Mr. Bhusan Tuladhar, Regional Technical Advisor, UN-Habitat. Mr. Sesh Narayan Maharjan, RTF Practitioner and Proprietor of Kumari Nursery, Mr. Ram Hari Phuyal, Senior Civil Engineer, KMC and Mr. Suryaman Shakya, Visiting Faculty, Kathmandu University participated in the panel discussion.In the panel discussion session, panelists shared their views on need, opportunities and challenges on roof top farming.