Youth entrepreneurship

As youths across the country lament the lack of employment opportunities at home, Rajan Binayak Pasha of Chovar VDC, Kathmandu, has decided to challenge the norm by creating his own employment. This student of development studies invested in mushroom farming, and has been reaping substantial benefits from it. Add to it the fact that Pasha is a TU topper, and his story goes even more against the grain. The trend has been that every year, youths in Nepal leave for foreign shores in droves, citing the lack of opportunities in the country and blaming everything from political instability to lack of political will to create jobs. 

However, the examples of successful youth entrepreneurs in Nepal challenge the notion that Nepal holds no opportunities for youths, sending a clear message that if they want, the youth can create employment for themselves. 

Apart from Rajan Binayak Pasha, many other entrepreneurs are making their marks in various fields. Tulakumar Rai in Sindhupalchowk has earned millions of rupees by farming trout after he returned to the country from the UK. Likewise, more than a dozen foreign returned youths have successfully taken to livestock farming in Palpa. Surya Nepal has recently begun the admirable trend of recognizing social entrepreneurs, among whom are the youths who have trained visually impaired individuals to be masseurs, produced and sold dye from locally available materials at Kakani, and provided hospice care to terminally ill patients, all to great effect. Many of them have successfully geenrated employment for local comunities. 

The range of the fields of interest of these successful enterpreneurs is proof that many avenues are open for interested and motivated individuals. Some of these youths have returned from foreign countries to invest their time, skills, and efforts in Nepal, providing an answer to the trend of “Brain Drain.” 

Apart from these obvious positive aspects, these youths also play a more subtle role in society by serving as role models and inspiring unemployed youths to do something on their own. For several generations, the most promising groups of our youths have spent their productive years in foreign employment, and their financial success has led people in general, and youth in particular, to believe that foreign employment might be the best, or in some cases, only option for them, destroying the potential of a whole generation to stay in the country and constructively contribute to national development. The youths who do remain in Nepal are at a constant risk of being misguided by political parties for vested interests. 

Successful entrepreneurs have the potential to challenge the dominant discourse and inspire others of their cohort to follow in their footsteps. For that, the government needs to create a conducive environment to encourage all kinds of entrepreneurs, and the media needs to highlight the success stories of Nepali entrepreneurs. Narratives of their achievements and the satisfaction they gain from contributing to society might be the best bet to convince Nepali youth that foreign employment is not the only path to prosperity.

Published on: 4 February 2013 | Republica