Located in the northwest corner of Karnali zone, Humla is most remotely located district of Nepal. Situated at an altitude of around 3000 m, Simikot is the district headquarters in Nepal, located at the highest altitude. It is also the gateway to Mt. Kailash and Mansarovar, a very sacred mountain and lake, respectively, for both Hindus and Buddhists. Humla is very rich in high-value Himalayan herbs. Despite being rich in natural resources and cultural diversity, Humla remains one of the poorest districts of Nepal in terms of the Human Development Index. 

Funded by the Development Fund Norway, Humla Development Initiative (HDI), a joint undertaking of LI-BIRD and Self-Help Initiative Promotion Centre Nepal (SHIP-Nepal), started in 2006, intending to improve the livelihoods of people of Humla, a poverty-stricken district in Nepal. HDI worked on improving food and nutrition security, income generation, health and sanitation, rural appropriate technologies, good governance, and gender mainstreaming. The project also closely worked with DDC and other relevant government institutions in the district. HDI programmes were implemented in collaboration and cooperation with relevant stakeholders and communities. By building institutional capacity and good governance of Humla for effective service delivery and improved access to basic services, HDI aimed to sustainably use natural resources and enhance socio-economic conditions and livelihoods.  

The project increased the participation of women and Dalits in key decision-making positions of farmers’ groups and cooperatives. Changed living standards and access to green vegetables throughout the year for the majority of farmers in programme VDCs are some of the significant achievements of HDI. For community empowerment, various types of training, workshops and exposure visits were organised. The project invested substantial resources in building capacity of farmers on sustainable agriculture practices, biodiversity management, and climate change adaptation. For sustainability, local resource persons and local resource centres were established. HDI also formed farmers’ cooperatives and facilitated them to initiate small-scale enterprises such as a community seed bank and oil processing units. 

The key achievements of the project include: 

• Nearly a dozen improved varieties of cereal crops (paddy: 4, wheat: 6, and barley: 1) and five improved varieties of potatoes are under the seed multiplication programme, with more than 300 households engaged to increase food production in Humla. 
• Functional breeding units of rabbits, pigs, and poultry are established for improving livestock production. 
• Two traditional canals were rehabilitated, and two water collection ponds were constructed, benefiting 150 households and irrigating 27.5 hectares of land. 
• More than 350 households adopted integrated home gardening, of which about half of them had permanent plastic houses for producing vegetables year–round. 
• Six agriculture cooperatives (each VDC (now Municipality) having one cooperative) formed with a total membership of about 600 households and savings above NPR 500,000. 
• A total of 62 Local Resource Persons (LRPs) were trained who have established a total of 33 local resource centres according to their specific areas of intervention. 
• A community seed bank was established at Simikot as a collective means to help support in fulfilling seed requirements of poor farmers and conserving traditional landraces of important crops in Humla. 
• A Proso millet de-husking plant, barley processing plant and a walnut oil expeller plant were established, benefiting more than 200 households.