Kathmandu, Dec. 18 -- Agriculture expert Yamuna Ghale was on a research visit to Dolakha district when she heard the women livestock farmers complain that their goats had weak legs and could not stand properly. She then learnt that the women had noticed new kinds of grass in their neighborhood which they had been feeding their livestock.

Ghale, who is a member of the Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC), immediately made the connection - this was an invasive species of grass that was growing in the mountains because of global warming, and was not good for livestocks.

"Commercial farming is mostly done by men, and such farmers tend to source commercial feed or grass for their livestock, but women farmers keep a few animals at home....