Resham Bhattarai (a pseudonym), together with five other small farmers in Sri Antu (in the far east of Nepal), formed a co-operative group in 1986 under the Small Farmer Development Project, an initiative of Nepal’s Agricultural Development Bank, with funding being provided as a loan from a foreign donor, the International Fund for Agriculture Development. His total asset when he joined the group was 2.5 ropani (0.12 hectares) of agricultural land, against which he was able to borrow 15,000 rupees. 4,000 rupees went towards the purchase of a horse and he used the rest as trading capital, buying ginger and amleso (the shrub from which the ubiquitous brooms are made) locally. These he and his horse then transported to India (or sometimes to Fikal Bazaar in Ilam District), importing various Indian goods on the return journeys. While doing this, as he himself stressed, he remained a disciplined member of his group under the close and benign supervision of his sub-project office’s group organiser.