Capacity Building and Institutional Strengthening of Nisikhola Sisno Powder Micro-Enterprise

Nisikhola rural municipality is one of ten municipalities in Baglung District, Western Nepal. The rural municipality is home to a population with diverse cultures, traditions, rich biodiversity and has significant potential for enterprise development and tourism promotion. Since the municipality also has a number of Micro-Hydro Power plants (MHP) contributing significantly to local peoples’ livelihoods, it has become one of the project sites for WISIONS Innovation Lab in Nepal. The project team has planned different activities in the municipality based within two MHPs: Nisikhola II and Nisikhola III. One of those activities is the ‘Reviving the Sisno Powder Enterprise’ project, which aims to demonstrate a commercially feasible business model for Non-Timber Forest Products sourced from sustainably managed community forests using electricity from the locally available MHPs.

The Sisno Powder Enterprise was officially registered in 2070 BS (2013/14 CE) with the Small and Cottage Industries Office under the name Nishi Sisno Powder Micro-enterprise in Nishikhola Rural Municipality-5, Nishikhola. Established by a 17-member committee, the enterprise was founded with the vision of utilizing locally available nettle leaves (Urtica dioica), known as sisno, to create income-generating opportunities and enhance the livelihoods of women in the community.

Fresh sisno leaves (raw material) from which powder is produced

Sisno is a wild herb with spiny leaves and belongs to the Nettle family. The plant has a multipurpose use as it is edible and also has nutritional and medicinal values. The sisno leaves have multiple health benefits as it has anti-diabetic properties, anti inflammatory and analgesic properties, helps in detoxification, improves blood circulation and support heart health (Bhusal et al., 2022). Apart from medicinal values, the nutritional values of sisno are also high. The plant has high iron, protein, fibre and vitamin contents. The leaves can be consumed while it is green or can be consumed in the powder form. 

Nettle leaf powder is produced through a process that includes collection, cleaning, drying and grinding the dried leaves into powdered form. Once processed, the powder can be labelled and packaged for market distribution. In recent years, growing awareness of the nutritional and medicinal value of nettle leaves has led to an increase in market demand for sisno powder. This demand is particularly notable in hotels and the organic product stores in urban areas. Recognizing this opportunity, women from Nisikhola began producing sisno powder to help meet the rising market demand.

Package of sisno powder from their past operations

The enterprise started with the support from several organizations such as Dhaulagiri Community Resource Development Center (DCRDC), Alternative Energy Promotion Center (AEPC), Li-Bird, Practical Action, and the rural municipality itself. However, their sales were affected badly by the effects of COVID-19. Transportation got affected, markets were closed for months, significantly impacting their enterprise. Their regular sales in bulk as well as smaller quantities got affected, which further led into shutting down of the enterprise. 

Fast-forward to the present day, the womens’ group, despite continued interest and enthusiasm to revive the business, has been unable to restart operations due to resource constraints and the lack of a good leadership to guide the institution forward. Some of the women who were previously trained by different institutions and had knowledge about the technical process of sisno powder, have migrated and others have become occupied with different activities. To address these challenges, RECOFTC Nepal, through the WISIONS Innovation Lab, is working to revive the enterprise by identifying a new group of motivated women with a strong interest to bringing the business back to life. Since these women are new to the enterprise capacity building trainings were scheduled. The first and formal step towards this was held from 20-22 Magh 2081 (2-5 February 2025 CE) where the womens’ group were brought together to strengthen their skills in business operation, planning and maintaining records. To support the market-side development of the enterprise, RECOFTC Nepal has partnered with Raithane Agriproducts Nepal, which is one of the leading community-businesses promoting local products from different parts of Nepal.

Group of women interested in reviving the enterprise attending the capacity building event

The capacity building event incorporated a wide range of topics on institutional strengthening, with the participation of 10 women. Raithane Agriproducts supported in facilitating all sessions. On the first two days, participants engaged in a SWOT analysis of the enterprise, reviewed governance structures and discussed the elements of good governance, along with technical, social, and environmental considerations for the enterprise. Training also included data management and record keeping. The third day was focused on business planning, while coordination meetings with the rural municipality and other stakeholders were held on the last day of the event. 

This visit has been successful in securing support from the local government to revive this business. They have agreed to provide matching funds to the enterprise for repair, maintenance and the purchase of necessary machineries. Also, a new 9-member committee for operation of the enterprise has been formed and they have already started working to meet all the legal requirements. A constitution outlining the operational rules for the enterprise has been prepared, and a business plan is currently under development.