Nepal, Dec. 21 -- Until just before the First World War, Nepal maintained a largely self-reliant socio-economic system rooted in cotton cultivation, local iron extraction and brass-based artisanal industries. Across the hills and Tarai, rural households and communities produced their own clothing, kitchen utensils, agricultural tools and basic construction materials using locally available resources and indigenous technologies. These practices sustained local value chains, supported intergenerational transmission of skills, and enabled communities to retain a high degree of economic autonomy.

I still remember sitting beside my grandad as a child, in the near darkness of the evening, lit only by a dim 10-watt electric bulb, listening to s...