Sharing Seeds
Sarangkot – Tallathar village, NepalSharing Seeds, a non-profit organization, supports local farmers in producing Organic Arabica Coffee and engages them in Beekeeping.
Community Tourism profoundly impacts local community members by creating opportunities for economic growth and empowerment. To amplify Sharing Seeds’ impact, Planeterra supported them in developing a meaningful community experience that enables participation from community members, including women and youth, in village tourism.
Women are stepping into leadership roles, managing and leading experiences, and handling finances. Additionally, both women and men collaborate closely to ensure travellers have an exceptional time in their village, fostering a newfound sense of self-confidence within them.
At a glance
Women leading tourism
Women are taking leadership roles in hosting experiences, managing activities and handling finances.
USD 2 from every visitor
A contribution from every visit goes into a community fund to support local priorities.
A community kitchen
The fund has supported a shared kitchen designed to create space for new activities and opportunities.
A partnership with G Adventures
Planeterra and G Adventures have helped connect Sharing Seeds’ existing strengths with tourism markets.
Creating opportunities closer to home
In rural Nepal, many young people leave their villages in search of better income and employment opportunities abroad. Some take on difficult and risky jobs for low wages, often far from their families and communities.
Sharing Seeds was created to help create more opportunities within the village.
The organization supports local farmers in activities including Organic Arabica coffee production and beekeeping, while encouraging young people and rural women to participate in sustainable agriculture and other income-generating activities.
But there was another opportunity close to home.
Despite being near one of Nepal’s popular tourist destinations, the community was not benefiting significantly from tourism revenue. Sharing Seeds saw an opportunity to connect the knowledge, food, farming and hospitality already present in the community with travellers.
The goal was not simply to bring more visitors. It was to create an experience that could generate meaningful opportunities for people in the community while sharing everyday village life with travellers.
Turning community strengths into an experience
Sharing Seeds worked with Planeterra to develop a Community Tourism experience where travellers could visit the village, share a meal prepared by community women and learn more about local life.
Through Planeterra’s partnership with G Adventures, Sharing Seeds received support to prepare for visitors. A grant helped improve infrastructure, while hospitality training helped community members build the skills and confidence needed to welcome travellers.
Women began taking on leadership roles, managing experiences, handling finances and helping shape how tourism developed in the community.
Men and women also work together to welcome travellers and create a positive experience for visitors.
For Sharing Seeds, tourism became another way to build on the knowledge, skills and resources already present in the community.
Sharing Village Life with Travellers
Early morning sunlight falls across the hills of Sarangkot-Pandeli as travellers arrive in the village.
In a community space, women prepare a traditional breakfast and welcome visitors into an experience rooted in local food, stories and everyday life.
For travellers, it is a chance to slow down, enjoy breakfast with extraordinary views and learn about village life beyond the usual tourist route.
For the community, the experience creates opportunities that extend beyond the meal.
Women are building confidence and hospitality skills while earning income from tourism.
Local businesses, including coffee producers and beekeepers, can also connect with growing visitor demand.
Older generations are seeing local traditions and knowledge become part of an experience that can be shared with visitors, while younger community members have opportunities to develop skills and explore livelihoods closer to home.
When every visit contributes to the community
Sharing Seeds sets aside USD 2 from every visitor for a community fund.
Rather than treating tourism revenue as an end in itself, the fund creates a way for income generated through visitor experiences to be reinvested in priorities identified by the community.
Most recently, that contribution helped support the construction of a new community kitchen.
From visitor contribution to community asset
Traveller visits
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USD 2 contributed to the community fund
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Community decides how the funds are used
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Investment in shared infrastructure
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More opportunities to host, learn and earn
Turning Tourism Revenue into Community Investment
The new community kitchen is a shared space designed by and for the community.
It gives women a more suitable place to prepare food, expand their activities and welcome travellers. It also creates opportunities to develop new experiences, including Nepali cooking classes.
The kitchen is more than a place to prepare a meal. It is a tangible example of how tourism revenue can become a community asset.
A traveller’s visit contributes to a fund. That fund supports something the community can use again and again. And that shared space can create opportunities for more experiences, more learning and more participation in tourism.
What is changing?
Women and youth
Tourism is creating opportunities for women to take on leadership roles, build hospitality skills and earn income. Young people also have opportunities to develop skills and explore livelihoods closer to home.
Local businesses
The visitor experience creates connections between travellers and small businesses in the community, including coffee producers and beekeepers.
Community investment
A contribution from every visitor is helping turn tourism revenue into shared infrastructure that can support future activities.
Culture and knowledge
Local food, farming knowledge, hospitality and everyday village life are becoming part of an experience shaped by the community.
