Cheli Hastakala Udhyog is a women’s handicraft and small-industry enterprise at Birgunj Metropolitan City-8, Sirsiya, Parsa, Madhesh Province, selected in DGM Nepal’s second batch of competitive small grants. Its sub-project plants gooseberry, the Nepali amala or Phyllanthus emblica, and processes the fruit into pickle, oil and candy. Amala is a hardy indigenous tree valued in Ayurvedic and traditional medicine for its high vitamin C content, and its processed products, particularly candy and hair oil, have well-established markets in Nepal and across the border. Growing the fruit and processing it under one enterprise lets the group capture the full margin instead of selling perishable raw fruit at low farm-gate prices. Grant funds are expected to cover saplings and plantation, processing and packaging equipment, food-safety training and market linkage. The sub-project advances DGM Nepal’s women-led enterprise priority while adding perennial indigenous tree cover in Parsa.
