In 1990, His Majesty?s Government of Nepal and IFAD signed the loan agreement for the Hills Leasehold Forestry and Forage Development Project (HLFFDP), and implementation was undertaken in 1993. The project objectives were twofold: (1) to raise the incomes of hill families that were living below the poverty line and (2) to contribute to improvements in ecological conditions in the hills. These objectives were to be achieved through the lease of areas of degraded forest lands to groups of poor households, which would be assisted in the regeneration of the land. This would occur through the expansion of the vegetative cover, mainly by enrichment planting of grasses and trees, and through improved management by the exercise of more control over livestock grazing and fires. With this enhanced resource base and the resulting additional fodder production, families were to increase the incomes they earned from livestock production and other income-generating activities. By 1999, the coverage of the project had increased from two to ten districts of Nepal.
