Highlights:

• Participants reflected on the farm visits and summarized advice to the four farms.
• Participants designed  and discussed their own organic model farms.
• Participants were introduced to the history, principles and practice of organic farming.
• Participants learned about standards, certificates and Participatory Guarantee Systems in organic farming.
• Participants discussed current issues such as access to export markets, supply, demand and competition in the Southern Nepal region.

Day 7 was a free day for the group – but our participants were busy nonetheless: Catching up on email, other work items or networking with their peers. And preparing for the FIFA World Cup, of course. Watching football is serious business in Nepal.

On Day 8, we reconvened in the classroom to take a look at the history, principles and practice of organic farming. While all participants proved highly knowledgeable in the area, there was still a lot to learn and discuss. Who would have thought, for example, that Nestle is selling organic products, too? Or that organic farms can be vast, measuring 2,000 hectares and look just like conventional ones.

Day 9 gave participants ample opportunity to apply what we learned on the previous day to their own contexts. In the afternoon, a lively world café gathered to tackle some of the most pressing issues organic agriculture is facing in Nepal.