Quarterly newsletter of the SAMBRIDDHI project, a 3.5-year USDA Food for Progress initiative led by Lutheran World Relief to modernize aquaculture in Nepal. It covers the first reporting period (April-September 2026) and is addressed to project partners, government stakeholders and fish farmers.
This is the first issue of the SAMBRIDDHI quarterly newsletter, published by the USDA Food for Progress Modernizing Aquaculture in Nepal project. It covers the period April to September 2026 and is intended for project partners, government officials, fish farmers and market chain actors in Nepal.
The newsletter opens with a message from Chief of Party Dr. Manjurul Karim and a project overview. The 3.5-year project works across 5 provinces and 14 target districts with 9,500 fish farmers and 500 market chain actors. Two strategic objectives are increased productivity and expanded trade.
Activity 1 reports on Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) training. A national SPS review benchmarked Nepal's policies against WTO and Codex standards. Four curricula were approved by CFPCC covering feed, hatcheries, farm biosecurity, harvest, markets and processing. 2,941 farmers were trained on SPS, biosecurity and post-harvest handling.
Activity 2 covers infrastructure: 10 One-Stop Service Centers, 25 aerator-equipped demonstration ponds and the Janakpur Live Fish Market upgrade. Product losses at Chitwan Fish House dropped from 10% to 4%. Daily sales at the market rose from 1,200-1,500 kg to 1,500-2,000 kg.
Activity 3 describes the training cascade: 14 partner staff trained 28 Aquaculture Field Facilitators who reached 2,941 farmers across 33 municipalities. Eleven district coordination meetings drew about 440 participants. Activity 4 covers breeding nuclei for Rohu and Mrigal, monosex tilapia seed production, and feed formulations for nine species.
Activities 5 and 6 cover financial services and nutrition. 283 farmers completed financial literacy training through SAHAMATI and FORWARD Microfinance. The nutrition campaign reached 626 participants across 10 districts, with knowledge scores rising from 62.9% to 79.4% among students and from 46.5% to 71.9% among community participants.