National Agriculture Sector Development Priority (NASDP) for the Medium-Term (2010/11 - 2014/15)

The National Agriculture Sector Development Priority (NASDP) for the Medium-Term (2010/11 - 2014/15)is sectoral policy with the following objectives: To make the interventions reflective of agriculture development and food security needs;To make the strategic policies and priorities selective;To mobilize resources for inclusive development;To become selective (priority wise) in obtaining support of the UN Agencies,bilateral and multi-lateral DPs;To make the development agenda country needs driven (in line with the current and forthcoming TYIPs: and to promote complementarities by recognizing respective comparative advantage/mandate of the DPs.As majority of the Nepalese people live in rural areas and around 74 percent are dependent on agriculture as their occupation, the dependency of the economy on agricultural sector is much more.Currently, the Government accrues 32 percent GDP from the farming sector. Therefore, any effort made for agriculture sector development not only helps for economic growth but also contributes to poverty reduction. Realizing this, Nepal has been emphasizing broad based economic growth with social inclusion and poverty reduction. Despite continued attempts to increase production and productivity, the per-capita food availability has eroded over the years due to almost stagnant production against the annually increasing population pressure. The per-capita holding size of agricultural land is less than 0.8 ha, which can produce only about six months’ food for a family in the low production environment. The poor families can hardly protect themselves against occasional shocks occurred through droughts, floods and prolonged illness. The country is making attempts to transfer subsistence scale agriculture into a vibrant business sector for greater economic growth. However, the process of transformation is very slow. The level of investment is low in augmenting greater return through development of basic infrastructures, supply of quality inputs and competitive market environment. However, the country has enormous potential for development, as it is blessed with favourable agro-biodiversities where a wide range of crops (cereals,pulses, oilseed crops, fruits, vegetables and other cash crops) can be produced at different locations.The framers can benefit from animal husbandry as an integral part of the Nepalese farming system. Many farmers raise cattle, buffalo, goat, pig and poultry for generations. The scope for aquaculture development is also growing in the recent years due to increasing demand for healthy food. Nepal has been receiving generous support of international development partners. Their support intends to bring resources closer to the implementation of programmes for the target beneficiaries with efficient use by fostering strong governance. They have supported stakeholders' capacity building effort for sustained impact of the investments. Further, support is extended for policy reforms and institutional capacity building. They emphasize increased production and diversification of opportunities. They accord priority to the mobilization of local communities in planning and implementation of activities affecting their lives.