Local Food Supports Local Community

Hello! My name is Mia, and I am now working remotely as a marketing officer for Lalitpur District Milk Producers Cooperative Union (LDMPCU) in Nepal to help them to promote their services and products. LDMPCU is a cooperative union that provides financial and production advice for the farmers so they can become more self-sufficient. As a country that has over 60% of its population working in agriculture, many small-scale farmers are not sure how and where to sell their products. The organization aims to help these people to overcome such difficulties and become less marginalized. For me, the main task is to help the organization to develop online marketing tools and plans and assist with their marketing activities to have more people in the local community to be aware of the organization and its products.

As an academic volunteer, I am currently a fourth-year student at University of Ottawa, and I have always hoped to work with an NGO during my undergraduate study. After entering my final year, I realized that I need to give myself a push before I graduate, or I would miss this great opportunity. As a fourth-year International Development and Globalization student, we have learned a lot about sustainable development, and I also took a course related to food security which made me decide to apply for this position. Before this internship, I have some experience in social media marketing, and this position allows me to combine both my professional experience and academic interests.

During my mandate, I kept pushing myself to learn new skills even though I already had some experience in marketing. In the past weeks, I have learned how to make and operate a website, design a brochure, and many things else, both from my colleagues and by myself. While working alone, I tried to push myself to learn more new skills and more details about the local culture, as a big part of marketing needs to be based on the local community’s preference. The organization has also supported me in having a deep understanding of the local needs, their work, and their goals. This is a great opportunity to complete a mandate with CECI and learn new knowledge as I realized I might not do the same thing and have this chance if I did not work in this position. Finally, despite the fact that we could not meet each other face-to-face, we worked together to overcome the time difference and language barriers.