Home-made pickles from Nepali kitchens are now flying to international markets. There really is nothing better for Nepali migrants to remember their homeland with than the lip-smacking flavours of home-made achar. Pickle-making is a thriving business in Nepal, the country’s products now exported to the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Australia, South Korea, Denmark, and mostly to Australia. With an export of 161 tonnes worth Rs109.84 million, Nepal has come a long way from 2019-20 when it exported no pickles at all.

Even though pickle-making has a long history and has been passed down generations, it was only in 2019-20 that the Department of Customs began recording pickle trade as there was a significant export. This is part of a trend. The International Labour Organisation’s “Report on Micro and Small Enterprise Policy Review in Nepal”, published in 2005, says absence of information on micro enterprises hampers the accuracy of the policy formulation related to the enterprises and their review process. As micro enterprises were given industry status only in 2015, there are still many problems within them, and the enterprises still struggle with a financing gap of $2.5 billion. In many cases, banks and financial institutions support already-established enterprises, discouraging novices in businesses. Yet the National Economic Census 2018 showed that of the 923,356 establishments in operation then, 95.5 percent were micro enterprises. Perhaps these figures have not changed much over the years.

True, the government of Nepal has introduced many schemes to support micro enterprise entrepreneurs and startups. Targeting the returnee migrant workers affected by the pandemic, it brought the Micro-Enterprise Development Programme for Poverty Alleviation. Similarly, the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supply approved the Startup Enterprise Loan Fund Procedure in 2022. In fiscal 2022-23, the Department of Industry invited start-ups to submit proposals for subsidised loans, promising up to Rs2.5 million at 3 percent interest.

Micro enterprises need good financial support to flourish. The Indian government has a website named Startup India Seed Fund Scheme, which is dedicated to emerging startups. Nepal could emulate this and make registration and service processes hassle-free. Past startup-related schemes of the government have a track record of failure. For instance, one such scheme was abandoned last year for lack of funds; the startup enterprise loan funding is also yet to go into effect. As a result, many entrepreneurs see government pledges as no more than political stunts and abandon entrepreneurial ideas or even the country.

Micro industries like pickles that are growing despite all odds should be supported by solving policy and scheme implementation hurdles. Additionally, with the growing competition in the market, it is becoming increasingly hard for pickle businesses to maintain profit margins. This calls for innovative state strategies and financial literacy programmes to help them, in partnership with the private sector. Small steps to boost micro enterprises like pickles could keep Nepali youths happily employed right at home. Our policymakers like to think of big projects to “develop” Nepal. They try to sell this dream in order to persuade youths to stay. Perhaps they should be thinking small and many rather than big and few. 

(This article was first published by The Kathmandu Post, Nepal).