Completed Social Entrepreneurship
Udyami Didi Cohort
30 women, 26 running businesses a year later — average profit NPR 9,200/month.
Six months of enterprise incubation for 30 women.
Mithila art, tailoring, goat-rearing and snack production — with staged seed grants, bookkeeping training, and market linkage to Kathmandu buyers.
Seed grants were staged in two tranches against milestones, and peer "mentor circles" kept women engaged better than formal training.
"The market linkage — not the skills — was the real bottleneck. Once we had buyers, everything moved."
— Women's cooperative secretary, Mithila
At a glance
- Program: Social Entrepreneurship (+ Economic Development)
- Location: Mithila Municipality, Dhanusha
- Duration: 2025–2026
- Budget: NPR 1,560,000
- Beneficiaries: 30 women · ~150 household members
Four objectives.
25 women-led micro-enterprises launched
Launched or formalized.
Average monthly profit ≥ NPR 8,000
By month 12.
≥15 municipal business registrations
Cohort linked to MEDPA follow-on
Success criteria
- 25+ enterprises launched
- Avg profit ≥ NPR 8,000/month
- 15+ registrations
- Linked to MEDPA pipeline
Where NPR 1,560,000 goes.
| Item | NPR | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Seed grants (30 × 30,000) | 900,000 | 58% |
| Skills & business training (6 modules) | 280,000 | 18% |
| Market linkage + Kathmandu exhibition | 160,000 | 10% |
| Mentorship & follow-up visits | 110,000 | 7% |
| Digital payments & bookkeeping toolkit | 60,000 | 4% |
| M&E | 50,000 | 3% |
| Total | 1,560,000 |
Budget notes
- Grants staged in 2 tranches against milestones beat lump sums.
Who this reaches
30
women (18 Dalit/marginalized)
~150
household members
6
local trainers
- 30 women, 18 Dalit or marginalized
- ~150 household members
- 6 local trainers
Selection to MEDPA handover
Q1 2025
Selection with ward recommendation
Q2 2025
Training + seed grants (tranche 1)
Q3 2025
Businesses launch, monthly mentor circles
Q4 2025
Exhibition + online store pilot
Q2 2026
Endline; 22 businesses handed to MEDPA
Before → after
Enterprises operating at month 12
Average monthly profit
- 17 municipal registrations
- 11 women opened first bank accounts
- 4 hired additional workers
People behind it
Local coordinator
Women's cooperative secretary.
5 volunteers
Local college business students.
Diaspora mentor
Nepali entrepreneur in Japan — product & pricing.
Partners
- Municipality (venue)
- Local cooperative (savings)
- MEDPA district unit
How it aligns
SDG 5 · Gender Equality
SDG 8 · Decent Work
SDG 1 · No Poverty
National alignment
- MEDPA / MEDEP legacy (74% women entrepreneurs)
- 16th Plan jobs priority
Lessons learned
- Grants staged in 2 tranches against milestones beat lump sums.
- Peer "mentor circles" retained more women than formal training.
- Market linkage — not skills — was the real bottleneck.
This project profile is an illustrative example developed for program design and partnership discussions.