No cash Financing in this Project.

The Oleps are sub-ethnic group of the Monpas - believed to be the first inhabitants of Bhutan. They occupy the village of Rukha, under Athang Gewog in Wangdue district. The Oleps have been hunters and food gatherers since time unknown and were on continuous move within the Black Mountain of Central Bhutan practicing tseri (slash and burn) cultivations. In 1982 the Royal Government settled them in the present day Rukha on the land belonging to the Monastic Body. However, Oleps couldn't switch easily to farming or livestock breeding. This drove them to extreme poverty and hardship were food scarcity, malnutrition, low life expectancy and high infant mortality were a norm.
Since 2005 with the support of the Ministry of Agriculture, the Oleps have executed a trial project to introduce warm water fishery in Samthang, Lawa and Rukha villages. The project has proved to be a success with Samthang fishery supplying smoked fish (nga-do-tsem) to Thimphu on ad hoc basis.
The project ?Environmental Conservation and Rural Livelihood Enhancement through Dairy Development Initiatives is carried out by Community-Based Organization CBO ?Rukha-Samthang Midhey Gonor Gongphel Tshogpa (RSMGGT)?. The objectives of the project were:
1. To provide the community with environmentally friendly technology to reduce the dependence on firewood and the forest;
2. To support the community to control land degradation by providing different and sustainable fodder option for cattle;
3. To alleviate poverty by providing income generation opportunities for enhanced income and to improve livelihood of the people