Problems and prospects of the cooperative sector in Nepal for promoting financial inclusion

Abstract

This article explores the role of multi-level governance and power structures in local water security through a case study of the Nawalparasi district in Nepal. It focuses on economic sustainability as a measure to address water security, placing this thematic in the context of a complicated power structure consisting of local, district and national administration as well as external development cooperation actors. The study aims to find out whether efforts to improve the economic sustainability of water schemes have contributed to water security at the local level. In addition, it will consider the interactions between water security, power structures and local equality and justice. The research builds upon survey data from the Nepalese districts of Nawalparasi and Palpa, and a case study based on interviews and observation in Nawalparasi. The survey was performed in water schemes built within a Finnish development cooperation programme spanning from 1990 to 2004, allowing a consideration of the long-term sustainability of water management projects. This adds a crucial external influence into the intra-state power structures shaping water management in Nepal. The article thus provides an alternative perspective to cross-regional water security through a discussion combining transnational involvement with national and local points of view.Key words: Water security; Nepal; environmental governance; environmental justice; economic sustainability. ResumenEste artículo explora el papel de la gobernanza multinivel y las estructuras de poder en la seguridad del agua local a través de un estudio de caso del distrito de Nawalparasi en Nepal. Se centra en la sostenibilidad económica como una medida para abordar la seguridad del agua, colocando esta temática en el contexto de una estructura de poder complicada que consiste en la administración local, distrital y nacional, así como en actores externos de cooperación para el desarrollo. El estudio pretende explorar si los esfuerzos para mejorar la sostenibilidad económica de los sistemas de agua han contribuido a la seguridad del agua a nivel local. Además, considerará las interacciones entre la seguridad del agua, las estructuras de poder y la igualdad y justicia locales. La investigación se basa en datos de encuestas de los distritos nepalíes de Nawalparasi y Palpa, y un estudio de caso basado en entrevistas y observación en Nawalparasi. La encuesta se realizó en esquemas de agua construidos dentro de un programa finlandés de cooperación para el desarrollo que abarca desde 1990 hasta 2004, lo que permite considerar la sostenibilidad a largo plazo artículos originales Economic sustainability, water security and multi-level governance of local water schemes in Nepal 88 de los proyectos de gestión del agua. Esto añade una influencia externa crucial en las estructuras de poder intra-estatales que configuran la gestión del agua en Nepal. Por lo tanto, el artículo ofrece una perspectiva alternativa a la seguridad transregional del agua mediante una discusión que combina...

Financial inclusion in north-eastern region: an investigation in the state of Assam

“…The study concludes that mainly credit cooperatives serve the poorer and less developed rural banking markets. In line with that, Simkhada (2013) has investigated the role of co-operatives in Nepal. He argues that the cooperative model should receive increased attention in Nepal, allowing existing cooperatives to be strengthened and more cooperatives to be established, reaching more remote rural communities.…”

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“…Similarly, community cooperatives that operate as microfinance organizations in Nepal have evolved over the last two decades to provide a wide range of services such as business training (Simkhada 2013). Microfinance organizations in Kenya have provided their clients with business training (Osoro 2013), while the microfinance organizations SAT in Ghana and PRIDE in Tanzania have made business management training available to their clients (Adjei, Arun, and Hossain 2009;Bjorvatn and Tungodden 2010).…”

“…While the City of God Bank currently appears to have less emphasis on financial knowledge, Palmas Bank and Paju Bank have emphasized financial knowledge to a greater extent. Financial knowledge may become more important as microfinance organizations develop their innovation ecosystems and offer financial services in addition to microfinance, such as insurance (Adjei, Arun, and Hossain 2009;Simkhada 2013;Thompson Chaudhry and Nabeel 2013) and financial management training (Al-Mamun, Mazumder, Supporting Innovation Ecosystems with Microfinance 329 and Malarvizhi 2014). As in the case of Paju Bank, a microfinance organization's relationships with suppliers can serve as a source of not only financial capital, but also financial knowledge.…”

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“…He concluded that unless the barrier to financial access is dismantled through policy change (i.e., supply and demand of the service of financial institutions), financial inclusion is difficult to achieve. Simkhada (2013) asserts that cooperatives models effectively serve the financially…”