National Women?s Association of Bhutan (NWAB) is one of associations looking into upholding women empowerment through encouraging women entrepreneurship, cooperative and economic community groups. The challenges and economic hardships facing families in rural Bhutan are daunting and diverse especially for women and children. NWAB looks into supporting and helping women to economic activities which will earn decent living for them and their families.
NWAB at the moment has five ongoing project sites under Trongsa and Zhemgang Dzongkhag (district) producing medicinal herbs through women community groups. The two women?s group at Takabi and Dakphel in Zhemgang district are engaged in producing medicinal herbs. These two groups were looking to expand and diversify their products, as turmeric is abundantly grown in Zhemgang district, the groups aspire to cultivate turmeric and produce it as medicinal herbs and sell them thereby improving livelihood and conserving biodiversity too.
The GEF Small Grants Programme Bhutan, United Nations Development Programme carried out the project ?Promotion of biodiversity conservation and economic opportunities among women through community based medical herb cultivation? in partnership with NWAB to promote biodiversity through innovatively engaging in turmeric production as medicinal herbs.
The key activities of the project were developing the capacity of women on sustainably producing turmeric as medicinal herbs and ginger candy thereby promoting biodiversity conservation, providing groups with complete set of equipment for making turmeric and ginger candy production and marketing plans for the product.