Overview

Agriculture is the primary source of income and livelihood for more than 75% of the people and contributes to 35% of the GDP.^[1] In addition, agricultural systems are interwoven with the other sectors of development such as health and nutrition of children and women (often linked to high maternal and child mortality and malnutrition), school enrollment of children (particularly girls), availability of storage and access to market for inputs and outputs of agriculture that rely on infrastructure and energy, etc.

In-depth analysis by FAO and WFP: Click here

Classified Land Cover Map of Nepal, Source: Environmental Software and Services GmbH AUSTRIA

Agronomic conditions and challenges

Key Characteristics

Some of the key characteristics and consequences of agronomic conditions of Nepal include the following:^[2]

• People living in unfertile lands in Himalayan and Mountains areas have large food deficits.
• Urbanization are depleting fertile lands of Terai.
• Women are heavily involved in agriculture with implications for gender inequity, enrollment of girls (and boys) in school and health of the mother.
• Because of ruggedness of Himalayan and Hilly regions, development infrastructure for transportation, energy and communication have been difficult in acquiring agricultural inputs and selling products.

Irrigation

Nepal is rich in water-resources with a capacity to irrigate 8-10 million ha. However, only 40% of 2.6 million hectares of irrigable land is irrigated. More than two-third of irrigation projects lie in the Terai, a quarter in the Hills and less than 5% in the Himalayan region.^[3] Besides irrigation from river or stream water, use of treadle pump, drip irrigation andrain harvesting systems have demonstrated their potential in improving crop production but also in growing off-season vegetables, giving farmers substantial income, that can help lift the family out of poverty (see video on right).^[4]

Climate change and flooding

 
The meltdown of glaciers of the Himalayas of Nepal, which provide water for the major rivers of South Asia, serving hundreds of millions of people will affect people living downstream in Nepal and India.^[5] Hence, climate change is and will play an important role in agriculture production and survival of farmers and the non-farming consumers alike.

Structural conditions and challenges

System-level shortcomings:

There is a lack of "inter-sectoral coordination" among planning agencies, for example for water resources management and development.^[6] Weak integration of implementation efforts of different agencies and poor technical support in agriculture also has hindered in information transfer to farmers. Similarly, studies have found that government managed irrigation projects are less sustainable and effective than those coordinated by the people, indicating the systemic limitations of actors within.

Land tenure and access

According World Bank report, "tenancy restrictions, high land fragmentation, absentee landlordism, and unequal distribution" diminish tenure security and private investment. In addition, existence of policy restrictions on large-scale contract farming on various commodities (excluding tea) also has prevented maximum optimization of lands for agricultural production.

Road that apples have to travel to go from Jumla to Kathmandu's market

Market access and energy

Because of limited infrastructure development, such as roads and electricity, agricultural products from rural areas cannot be easily transported to urban or semi-urban markets. For instance, apples grown in one of the poorest districts of Nepal - Jumla, is highly demanded in cities as well as in India and China and need to be transported long distance without storage.^[7]

Governmental and non-governmental support

 
The Government of Nepal in its national strategy and fund allocation has emphasized the importance of agriculture under the campaign "Agriculture for subsistence to agriculture for sustainable development." The main support of the government is on subsidies to chemical fertilizers, incentives to promote production of organic fertilizer at local level, credit support for small farmers and entrepreneurs, subsidies on machinery equipments, small irrigation program support and research activities to improve understanding.^[8] NGOs have also played an important role in promoting fertilizer use, agriculture assistance and forming self-help-groups.^[9] 

Policy Implications

• Every year, many Himalayan regions suffer from food shortages. World Food Programme has been providing emergency food aid to these areas. However, a strategy that emphasizes on self-sustaining agricultural production or in-country distribution of products needs to be planned.
• Promote nutritious school lunch program to improve school enrollment and health of children.
• Make Irrigation technologies and services need to be made more available to rest (60%) of the farms to improve productivity.
• Government should continue its subsidy program for fertilizer use and local-production and for purchase of machineries.
• Invest on transportation and energy infrastructures to increase market access.
• Land tenure laws need to be passed that discourage landlords to leave lands barren.
• International level collaboration and coordination needs to highlight the consequences of climate change and ways to address the causes of climate change

External Resources

• FAO Article on Nepal Agriculture, soil system: http://www.fao.org/ag/AGP/AGPC/doc/Counprof/nepal.htm