Kedar Nepal

I had the privilege to visit Tokyo, Japan in October 2024 with a business trip from my organisation, 4C Services. Tokyo had a welcoming atmosphere after landing at the airport, luggage was handled safely by the airport staff, friendly and helpful people around, friendly taxi services made my way to my hotel near Tokyo Bay Area smoother. For the three days of the Speciality Coffee Association of Japan(2024) event, we had a stand in the West Hall of Tokyo Big Sight to promote 4C's work and development in the coffee sector, and to explain to visitors about 4C as a sustainability certification for coffee and cocoa. I was also fortunate enough to present about 4C Carbon Footprint certification in a live plenary hosted by the University of Tokyo. Shortly after landing in Tokyo, on another day, I gave a presentation on 4C and Carbon Footprint to University professors and researchers, which brought back memories of my undergraduate and graduate symposium. Overall, the conversations and ext...

Having studied, read, and listened to many things about Africa, I was very much thrilled to visit there. In my current job as Sustainability Manager, I got a chance to visit East Africa i.e., Tanzania on behalf of the Project that I was leading. I brought back lots of sweet memories of food, culture, coffee fields, loving people, natural landscapes, and lots of green bananas. Tanzania has much to offer in terms of diversity of foods, culture, agriculture as one of the major sources of income, and most importantly very friendly and relaxed people. My travel in the second week of September (10-21) 2022 remains a medieval and vivid experience in terms of projects and people. With this experience, I am eager to learn, travel, and dive deep into other African countries in the future. Finally,  this time for Africa … remains an unforgettable memory and a must-visit country on the list. #Tanzania #coffee #EastAfrica

The two years of Master of Science in International Horticulture (Economics) at Leibniz Universität Hannover with DAAD scholarship has finally come to an end with excellent grades. During this two years study (2019 - 2021), I did a Master's research on Voluntary Sustainability Standards in Coffee and their impacts on smallholder farmers. The year 2019 started normally unlike previous years but was seen with unprecedented Covid -19 affecting daily lives, studies, and social life. However, with all the hardships and adapting to new conditions and rules, the academic journey of a Master's degree has been accomplished by me in Germany.

It is a pleasure to participate in a virtual conference of Tropentag 2021 with the theme of Towards shifting paradigms in agriculture for a healthy and sustainable future . With the diversity of professionals from varying backgrounds with bottom-up and interdisciplinary approaches, as a young researcher, it is a great opportunity to broaden the knowledge in this sector and contribute my own research in the form of poster presentations. The annual interdisciplinary conference on research in tropical and subtropical agriculture, natural resource management and rural development (TROPENTAG) is organised as a virtual conference by the University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany and ATSAF e.V., Germany with a few live sessions directly from Hohenheim and Prague, Czech Republic.  

After gaining some years of experience in the development and humanitarian sector in Nepal, I was in search of a degree that could match my interests, notions and justify my academic accolades. With months of dedication, I was offered a German Academic Service Exchange (DAAD) scholarship to pursue a Master’s in Germany with a major in development economics. It was really a game-changer for me to escalate my skills, communicate with the international community and broaden my knowledge in the desired field. And the journey to Germany was set with my beloved wife who left an attractive job to be with me during my studies. Accordingly, with all the hardships, we began to embark on our exploration of Europe. Though I had already explored some European countries in the past, being with my better half was heart soothing support to me. After some months of habitual activities in Germany, as mature husbands and wives, we also decided to become parents without thinking a second about caring for ...

The word sustainable has been used extensively in all the development and research works after the embarkment of Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Sustainable means using resources or actions that do not have deleterious impacts for the present and can equally be exercised by future generations. Having worked with different development and emergency projects, using of word sustainable was a kind of fashion. But the major challenge was how to pursue sustainability, how to perceive it, and how to make cities sustainable? Recently, with the inquisitive session of United People Global on Sustainability Leader, I was nominated for the class of 2021 and engaged in workshops, training, seminar, group discussions, and activities that I have been pursuing in my field. Now, I can proudly say I am a Sustainability Leader. Now the gate is open for other sustainability exercises in my projects and vicinity that I work.

The global impact of Coronavirus (COVID-19) that originated in Wuhan, Hubei Province of China has spread all around the world with prominent effect in every aspect of the economy. Health conditions of people around the world are highly impeded. Also, due to unprecedented lockdown and restrictions of human movement to combat the pandemic, the economy of different countries is severely affected.  The most noticeable impact of coronavirus is on the agriculture sector affecting agricultural operations and supply chain in agriculture ( Sahoo, 2020 ). Farmers face problems of reduced prices of crops, disruption in transportation due to lockdown and difficulty in harvesting as well. The market prices of the commodity are rising but the prices received by farmers are low resulting in a huge gap in prices. Different incentive and relief packages on behalf of the farmers are also found less effective. Shortage of labour force for agriculture value chain is also another problem affec...

The essence of acquiring a foreign degree coupled with professional experience demands working with veterans and organizations that can shape your career. Having been through extensive Economic Analysis studies on a profound basis, I was keen to work in an international organization setting to explore new environments, learn and excel in my skills. With this motivation in mind, I am lucky to work as a Market Research Analyst for Thünen Institute, Bundesalle, Braunschweig, Germany. I am contibuting to a Project- Reducing German Soy Imports? Feasibility, Requirements, Consequences. The Project is interesting and harnesses different market-based instruments and experts' views and models that are commendable. The major task focuses on the analysis of the demand for protein animal feed, estimate future market-driven demand for GMO-free or regionally produced animal feed in Germany or Europe deploying official statistics, expert discussions, and web analysis, determine the agronomic a...

Having been through different fresh vegetable and fruit markets in Nepal, I was typically wondered if there were some in Germany. After exploring Germany, I came to know that in Hannover, there is also a farmers market that offers fresh fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, bread to consumers. The product is also offered at competitive prices compared to big supermarkets. The major astonishing factor of the market is the diversity of buyers and sellers. They are from different regions of the world- This market helps to achieve fresh products with diverse and seasonal fruits and vegetables.

Under the “European Union support to the competitiveness of quality coffee in Nepal”, Good Neighbors International (GNI) Nepal implemented  Coffee Value Chain Development Project (CVCDP) in partnership with Beautiful Coffee Nepal (BeaCoN) in Kaski, Syangja, Gulmi, and Palpa districts of western Nepal and in coordination with 60 Primary Coffee Cooperatives (PCCs) at village level and Union of Coffee Cooperatives at the district level.  This two-year-long Project started in March 2017 and ended in June 2019. The primary target group includes 3000 small-holder coffee farmers associated with Primary Coffee Cooperatives (PCCs) and the secondary target group includes institutions and market actors involved in the production, processing, and marketing of coffee in Nepal.  At the national level, the Project also aims at institutional strengthening of the National Tea and Coffee Development Board (NTCDB) through the establishment of a comprehensive information management system....

With some years of professional experience and a good academic degree of BSc. Agriculture, I was looking for an academic degree that could define me and shape my career and future. Having known with different scholarships around the globe, I tried to some of them and clicked my mind when I entered www.daad.de, Having glitches on the website, I started to work on it and prepared for the documentations and academic references and so on. with the six months long hardships, I was happy to receive the nomination email for DAAD scholarship which was not the final one. But after some weeks my dream came into reality when I was selected for DAAD scholar in an International course at Leibniz Universität Hannover, Germany representing Nepal. www.daad.de https://www.uni-hannover.de/en/