Nepal is a predominantly rural society, with 70% of the 27 million population relying on the agricultural sector as their primary source of income. Agriculture accounts for more than a third of the country’s gross domestic product. Recent temperature rises and reduction in winter rainfall are affecting productivity and the livelihoods of the most vulnerable populations. Though many potential low- and no-regret climate change adaptation options for the agriculture sector exist at the small scale, the Ministry of Agriculture has identified a need to scale-up these practices.

Objectives

• Strengthen the evidence base on the climate compatible development benefits and viability for large-scale application of climate-smart agricultural practices.
• Facilitate scaling-up of climate-smart agricultural practices through the design and delivery of agreed scaling-up pathways;
• Understand and assess existing institutional arrangements in place and to identify policy and institutional gaps / weaknesses for climate change considerations.
• In particular, identify areas of capacity building and strengthening for mainstreaming climate change in agriculture sector.

Outcomes

The project includes a strong component of capacity building of local researchers and practitioners. It will disseminate new knowledge and learnings to the Government and other stakeholders to facilitate wider integration within the agricultural policy and programmes in Nepal. Some climate-smart agricultural practices will be piloted during the project, not only producing the evidence base to prove the utility of such practices but also providing direct benefits to the farmers involved in terms of more resilient livelihoods.