Until a few years ago, farmers in Achham’s remote villages faced a major hurdle even when they could produce crops and livestock: finding a market.

Whether it was maize, ginger, timur (Sichuan pepper) or goats, farmers often had to travel in search of buyers and markets for their produce.

That has changed with the expansion of roads. Agricultural produce is now collected in the villages, with traders and buyers travelling to farmers instead. As access to markets has improved, farmers have begun increasing production, bringing more economic activity to rural communities.

In Toli, a village in Panchadewal Binayak Municipality-6, traders collect ginger, timur, allo and maize every year. The produce is then sent to markets outside Achham, including in Kailali, Surkhet and Banke.

Kamal Rawal, also the ward chairman, has been collecting farm produce and sending it to markets outside the district.

Rawal said about 55,000 kg of ginger was collected from Toli this year alone. Farmers were paid Rs55 per kg. About 800 kg of timur was also collected at Rs500 per kg.

Three ginger farmers’ groups have been formed in the village, each with 25 members. Farmers in the groups produce up to 100 kg of ginger each on average, Rawal said.

“After Mid-Hill Highway came into operation, the roads branching off it into the villages also expanded. It has become easier to collect produce directly from the villages,” Rawal said. “In the past, getting produce to market was the main problem. Now traders and collectors come to the villages. I also collect produce. That has encouraged farmers to increase production.”

The Mid-Hill Highway has gradually connected Achham’s hill settlements to the road network, while feeder roads have made it easier to transport produce. Roads have not only connected villages to markets but also created opportunities for people to increase production and earn more from agriculture.

“Income from farming is now being used for household expenses, children’s education and other needs,” Rawal said.

Improved road access and markets have also changed livestock farming.

In Balata, Dhangadhi Rural Municipality-4, Setu Kami has turned goat farming into a source of household income in recent years. Her husband works in India. With four children to raise and educate, she needed a source of income at home, so she began raising goats.

“My husband is still in India to earn money to support and educate our children. Since his income alone was not enough to run the household, I started raising goats,” she said. “I now have 21 goats. I spend my days looking after my four children and taking the goats out to graze.”

Goat farming has added to Setu’s household income. Better road access has also reduced the need to travel long distances to find buyers for goats. Since vehicles can now reach Dhangadhi, traders collect goats directly from the area.

During festivals such as Dashain, goats from the area are sold as far as Mangalsen, the district headquarters, as well as Surkhet, Dailekh and Nepalgunj.

Setu said she earns more than Rs100,000 a year from goat farming. Economic activity in the Dhangadhi area has increased alongside goat farming over the past three to four years, she said.

Women in the village can often be seen tending and grazing goats throughout the day. For many of them, goats have become a source of income that can be quickly converted into cash when needed.

“Families that once struggled to have enough food for even six months have been able to improve their economic situation through goat farming,” she said. “It has become easier not only to meet household expenses but also to pay for my children’s education.”

The link between roads, markets and agriculture is also evident in Mangalsen Municipality-6, where more than 55,000 kg of maize was collected last year.

Shivashakti Agricultural Cooperative has been buying maize from farmers at Rs60 per kg. The cooperative has established collection centres at the ward office and in Guthina Tole.

The ward is a designated maize production area, and Panchakoshi Seed Company in Dhangadhi has agreed to buy the maize produced there through the cooperative. To ensure farmers have a market for their crops after harvest, the cooperative also provides them with seeds.

According to cooperative manager Bedraj Bhandari, maize has been collected regularly from farmers for the past four years. More than 200 farmers have sold maize this year, with some selling as much as 1,500 kg.

“Because of increasing migration, a lot of farmland in the villages had been left fallow. It took us eight years to convince and encourage farmers by providing seeds through the cooperative and telling them to produce as much maize as they could, while assuring them that we would buy what they produced,” Bhandari said. “Now maize production in the ward has exceeded our expectations.”

Farmer Nandaram Bhandari previously grew maize only for household consumption. With no market for the crop, he had little incentive to expand production. Now that he can sell maize within the village, he has started cultivating land that had been left fallow.

“I sold more than Rs15,000 worth of maize myself. Previously, the maize we produced was not sold and was used only at home. Being able to sell maize in the village has brought us income and meant that the land is no longer lying fallow,” he said.

But as production has increased, farmers have also faced new problems.

Monkey and wild boar damage has become a serious problem in the maize-growing area of Mangalsen-6. Ward chairman Devendra Prasad Bhandari said wild boars destroyed the maize crops of 107 farmers in the ward this year alone.

“Farmers are happy because they can now sell maize in the village and get paid. There is less fallow land in the village. If we can reduce damage from wildlife, production can increase further,” he said. “The ward will also provide support to encourage farmers further.”

Mangalsen-6 is also a designated buffalo and potato production area. Bhandari said the ward plans to introduce agriculture programmes focused on production in the coming years, as much of the cultivable land can still be brought under cultivation.