With the aim of alleviating poverty through the participation of rural poor farmers, Small Farmers Development Program (SFDP) was initiated through joint cooperation of Ministry of Agriculture Government of Nepal and Agriculture Development Bank (ADB) in 1975 with support from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO). Further, with the support of German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ), the establishment of small farmer-operated and managed Small Farmer Agriculture Cooperatives was made more accessible–sustaining, expanding, and institutionalizing of activities carried out under the framework of SFDP program. With the establishment of Nepal Agricultural Co-operative Central Federation Ltd. (NACCFL) in the year 2008, the federation is working continuously to provide all other non-financial services to its member organizations. To date, NACCFL is providing financial as well as non-financial services for more than 1139 member organizations in all 77 districts. The Nepal Agriculture Cooperative Central Federation Ltd., an umbrella organization of Small Farmers' Agricultural Cooperatives Limited (SFACLs) and similar other agricultural cooperatives, was established in 2008 AD with the objectives to provide non-financial services to its member organization. 

Moreover SFACLs have already mobilized more than Forty Four billion of rupees in various sectors of agricultural value chain through shares, savings and credit facilities. This program has widen the various ways of income generation through providing access to skills, knowledge, capital and technology to its members specially for marginalized tribes such as raute, bankariya, chepang, dom, musahar, chamar and also including 51% of indigenous population among of which comprises of 82% of women members

SFACL are members managed community based organization with three-tiered organizational structure where 5 – 9 members form a group at local/ward level, representative of group form intergroup and representatives of inter groups comes together to create cooperative at Rural/municipal level.  With the collaboration of cooperatives all over Nepal, Nepal Agriculture Cooperative Central Federation Limited and Sana Kisan Laghuitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited (Small Farmers Development Bank) are established to provide non-financial and financial services to its members respectively.