Nepal Earthquake: staff investigating extent of damage to partner communities
Practical Action staff are working hard to establish the impact of a major earthquake on farmers they are working with in Nepal.
The earthquake, which was 6.4 on the Richter scale, hit an area in Jajarkot district, shortly before midnight on Friday, November 3.
The epicentre is close to Rukum East, where Practical Action has been working alongside local farmers to help improve their resilience to climate change.
The work was funded by the UK public, who donated £1.75m to Practical Action’s “Turning the Tables on Climate Change” appeal in 2020/21.
This money was matched by the UK Government, and since then communities in the region have been training in new farming methods, using solar powered pumps for irrigation and new seed varieties and to improve their productivity, whatever the weather. Learn more about this project, here.
Pooja Sharma, country director for Practical Action in Nepal said: “Our hearts go out to the families of people who have died and to everyone who has been injured or lost their homes in the earthquake.
“We believe there have been no fatalities in the villages we have been working in, but our staff are now working around the clock to assess the impact on the farming families and once we know the extent of the damage, we will be looking at how we can support them.
“It is heart breaking to think they are having to contend with dramatic changes to their climate and the consequences of this earthquake. Worse still, they are not responsible for either.”
Practical Action can also confirm that all our staff and colleagues at partner organisations are safe and accounted for.
You can read more about the Nepal earthquake response on the BBC website, here.
