Climate Action Starts with Climate Education–Trainers’ Training Program on Climate Change and Action for Women Cooperators

Kathmandu, Nepal – NATCCO and the International Cooperative Alliance – Asia and the Pacific (ICA-AP) Women Committee teamed up to bring the Trainers’ Training Program on Climate Change and Action for Women Cooperators to Kathmandu, Nepal, on August 10-13, 2026.

The training brought together 27 women managers and leaders from both the primary and secondary co-ops across seven provinces in Nepal. The training was organized by the ICA AP Women Committee, supported by the Japanese Consumer Cooperative Union (JCCU). Local support and coordination was facilitated by the cNational Cooperative Federation of Nepal (NCFN), the apex organization and Nepal Agricultural Co-op Central Federation Ltd. (NACCFL), a secondary federation of agricultural co-ops. The training was facilitated by Lasalette Gumban, Strategic Management Group Head of NATCCO and Daisybelle Cabal, NATCCO Extended Trainer. The ICA AP Team was led by Balasubramanian Iyer, Regional Director, and Nitya Shukla, Lead – Gender and Cooperative Development.

Nepal, known to be abundant in its natural resources, faces severe climate change realities despite the fact that the country is contributing an insignificant percentage of global emissions. Climate change impacts include rapidly melting Himalayan glaciers, unpredictable monsoon rains, flash floods and landslides, and water scarcity that affect the lives and livelihoods of the people, especially the women, children, and the elderly. The training provided the co-op women managers and leaders with an understanding of climate change in relation to their roles in co-ops and of solutions that co-ops and individuals can work on. Even before the training, co-ops in Nepal have already implemented various climate action initiatives like compost-making, good agricultural practices like gradually transitioning to organic fertilizers, and climate change learning sessions. The trainers’ training program further expanded their knowledge and skills through practical solutions that they can start at home and institutionalize in the co-op.

NATCCO and ICA AP Women Committee Partnership started in 2022 with the development of the Trainers’ Manual on Women in Co-ops for Climate Action. The pilot run of the training was held at Richmond Hotel, Eastwood, Quezon City, participated by the ICA AP Women Committee Members led by its Chairperson, Chitose Arai. The training and manual review was first held in Vietnam in May 2023, with the comments and feedback used for the revision. In November 2023, during the ICA AP Regional Congress in the Philippines, the manual was formally launched during the Women’ Committee Forum. In 2024 and 2025, the trainers’ training program was held in Bhutan and Indonesia, respectively. To date, the program has trained 105 women managers and leaders.

As a follow up to the recent training, the Nepal participants will meet virtually on August 27 for the presentations of their action plan.

Cooperatives are well-placed to be eco-ambassadors in the community because of their grassroots reach and values of caring for the people and the environment.