Surya Tamang aged 24, a father of two daughter, belongs to Indigenous Nationalities and come from a low income family. The production crops he used to have from his limited area of land in Okahr Pauwa VDC of Nuwakot District was not enough to manage his family requirements. He used to work in a metal workshop in Kathmandu to earn extra income to meet the basic requirements of the family. However, Surya wanted to stay back in the village and do something that gives him additional income to support his family needs and children's education. Thus he decided to run a small metal workshop back in Kakani Bazaar. Due to lack of money for investment, he could not earn much from the workshop and was looking for other income opportunities.

Coincidently, the young Surya happened to be selected as a trainee in the entrepreneurship training organized by UNDP funded Micro-enterprise Development Programme (MEDEP). After the training Surys selected mushroom cultivation as the enterprise of his choice. Surya also undertook technical skill enhancement training on mushroom cultivation provided by MEDEP on the spot. After the training he started growing mushroom in the basement of his house in Kakani. From the first lot of mushroom production, he has been able to earn a cash income of Rs.6000. According to him there is no market problem for the fresh mushroom. Locals and outsider coming to visit Kakani buy all his product there on the spot. There is also good demand of fresh mushroom in the Kathmandu market.

He is doing strawberry farming also in a Ropani of land but he said there is market problem for fresh strawberry. According to him only the bigger size strawberry people like to buy, the small size ones to be thrown away.

Surya is also a member of a strawberry growing farmers cooperative recently formed. Along with the other members of the cooperative, Surya participated in the jam making training provided by MEDEP. After the training, the cooperative members began making jam with those berries that used to be thrown away because they were considered too small for sale as fresh. This was a marketing idea MEDEP transferred to them through product diversification initiative.

As an enterprise, Surya's preference now seems sifted to mushroom growing due to its simple cultivation practice and good market. " Now I am thinking to form a group of mushroom growing farmers of this area. If we form a group, it will be easy for selling our products in bigger market like Kthamandu and also be easy to arrange production materials such as rice straw, mushroom span etc for group use" he said.

Encouraged from the first flush of mushroom production, young Surya Lama intends to expand his mushroom growing enterprise in future. The only problem he has experienced in this enterprise is shortage of rice straw, the medium in which the mushroom is grown, in his locality.

There are thousands of young men and women in the rural community who are looking for income opportunity for their sustainable livelihoods. Opportunities might exist around them, but most of them are unaware of such opportunities.

The development programmes/projects (GOs, NGOs) should focus their development activities and resources in tune with the felt needs and demand of the rural families, help unfold their entrepreneurial potentialities and get them initiated by themselves for their sustainable livelihoods.