Panbang Youth Cooperative – Cultivating a Future Where the Rivers Meet

Panbang Youth Cooperative – Cultivating a Future Where the Rivers Meet

Written by Tshering Cigay Dorji, Commissioner, RCSC on 9 Feb. 2026

While the allure of Thimphu's "bright lights" or the promise of opportunities abroad often pulls many Bhutanese youth away from their rural roots, the five founding members of the Panbang Youth Cooperative decided to head in the opposite direction after they completed their studies in 2018. Returning to their hometown, they launched a farming group that officially evolved into the Panbang Youth Cooperative (PYC) on 14 October 2019, under the initial guidance of Dasho Lobzang Dorji, the then-Dzongdag of Zhemgang Dzongkhag.

During our recent stay at Panbang for the RCSC’s Annual Conference, we visited their farm on the evening of 4th February 2026 along with Dasho Lobzang Dorji. On twelve acres of government-leased land near the confluence of the Mangdechu and Drangmechu rivers, we found that the PYC, with twenty active members now, is thriving, while many other such youth-led farming initiatives learned the hard way that farming is not as romantic as they thought, and have quit.

Location of PYC's farm. Courtesy: Google Earth

Here, the PYC members are proving that a degree is not a ticket out of the village, but a tool to rebuild it. The Cooperative is led by Chairperson Mr. Leki Chedup, who has a Bachelor’s degree in Math and Physics from Sherubtse College. Along with him, the other four founding members are Mr. Pema Zangpo, with a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science from Sherubtse College; Mr. Pema Thinley, with a Bachelor’s degree in Electronics Engineering from the College of Science and Technology; Mr. Sangay Lethro, with a B.Com and accounting degree from the Gedu College of Business Studies; and Mr. Sonam Tshering, who has completed high school with a commerce major. 

“We are all childhood friends and completed our studies in July 2018, and we wanted to do this together,” says Mr. Sangay Lethro who made the presentation about the PYC during our visit.

Picture: Founding members with Dasho Lobzang Dorji

These youth have traded office desks for the sweltering heat of Panbang, embracing the unglamorous reality of cleaning livestock pens and managing the daily grit of farm life. We could see that their life on the farm would not be easy at all, but they were happy.

Their journey has been defined by resilience rather than easy wins. Through this journey, they also received their fair share of support from some Government agencies, the Bhutan Foundation and development partners among others. But the real effort on the ground had to come from themselves.

When an initial dairy project struggled and the intense local climate made traditional vegetable farming difficult, the group didn't see failure; they saw a learning opportunity. They pivoted their focus to pineapple cultivation and a coffee nursery, the latter of which earned support from the UNDP. Even a devastating loss of 25 pigs to swine flu became a hard-earned lesson in hygiene, leading to the construction of proper enclosures and strict biosecurity measures.

Picture: PYC’s coffee nursery

Now, their operations are thriving: the piggery can house up to 70 pigs, their fishery pond can hold up to 25,000 fish, and a poultry farm (with a maximum capacity of 3,000 hens) provides eggs to schools like Sonamthang Central School, helping fulfill the government’s promise of one egg a day for each student. “We currently have 600 hens that lay eggs,” they shared during our visit. 

Picture: PYC’s poultry business is thriving

Beyond being a business, the cooperative serves as a community anchor. While members earn a steady Nu 10,000 monthly plus bonuses, they also use their free time to provide essential services like electrical wiring and plumbing to their neighbors and earn some extra money. Their impact extends to environmental and social support, from distributing manure to local farmers and teaching mechanized farming to providing manpower and performing mask dances during religious Tshechus. 

Having come this far, they are full of energy for the future, with plans for high-tech smart farming and a national model for agro-tourism, proving that the most inspiring success stories are written in the soil of one’s own home.