Dr Indra Prasad Sapkota said that the branding would help promote products from the Kailash region.

Apart from Allo products, live demonstration by Allo weavers from Khar VDC, Darchula district in Nepal was another attraction of the exibition. The district in the far-western region of Nepal is part of the Kailash landscape.

Iswari Paudel, National Project Coordinator for KSLCDI, MoFSC, said that showcasing the community’s work had boosted the confidence of the community artisans and allowed others to see how allo products are made. He added that the brand would help expand opportunities for people in Darchula.

Likewise, Dr Eklabya Sharma congratulated the partners of Kailash Nepal Chapter, adding that the Kailash programme has long been working for conservation and development of mountains and people. The launch of the brand, he said, had transformed a vision into reality.

Dr Rajan Kotru, Regional Programme Manager at ICIMOD, described the event as “a wonderful initiative for connecting the ecosystem, communities and their culture.” He said that linking the community to the private sector has helped in product development and improved rural economy, and this underscores the importance of private sector involvement in the value chain.

ICIMOD Value Chain and Enterprises Development Specialist Anu Joshi Shrestha explained that the brand ‘Kailash’ with its tag line ‘Truly Sacred’ tries to bring various products from Nepal, India and China under one banner. She said the launch of the brand was just a first step towards realizing the vision of the Kailash initiative and thanked Robin Amatya, CEO of SABAH Nepal, for taking up the challenge of introducing the value chain concept in Khar VDC. Mr Amatya said that building the capacity of local people of Darchula and enabling them to sell their products is a gradual process. He expressed his hopes that the initiative would provide necessary support to make the intervention sustainable.