Agro-Investment Summit - Series II: Experts call for reforms and investment in Nepal's agriculture

KATHMANDU: Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), Swisscontact's Commercial Agriculture for Smallholders and Agribusiness Programme (CASA), and the Agro Enterprise Centre (AEC) organised the Agro-Investment Summit - Series II and National Dialogue on Agri-Investment and Export Promotion on Wednesday.

Experts at the event held in Lalitpur emphasised Nepal’s untapped agricultural potential and urged the government to prioritise reforms, investment, and export promotion. 

Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Development Ramnath Adhikari, inaugurating the summit, announced plans for an integrated agricultural policy to support long-term sectoral growth. “We have considered an integrated policy necessary for the development of agriculture and have made final preparations for it,” he said, assuring that stakeholder concerns will be addressed in the upcoming policy. He also called for cross-sector collaboration to achieve self-reliance in agriculture.

Addressing concerns about subsidies, the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development (MoALD) revealed that Rs 105 billion had been spent on subsidies over the past five years and said a study had been conducted to address misuse.

FNCCI President Chandra Prasad Dhakal criticised underfunding in agriculture, and urged the government to allocate a greater share of the budget to the sector. “The state should prioritise agriculture. I urge the government to prioritise agriculture in the upcoming budget,” he said. 

FNCCI Senior Vice President Anjan Shrestha called for actionable programmes and greater private sector involvement. He stressed the importance of providing farmers with fertilisers, seeds, and technology, while highlighting that only 3% of the government’s total budget goes to agriculture, primarily for chemical fertilisers.

The summit, attended by policymakers, private sector representatives, and development partners, concluded with calls for sector-wide collaboration to boost agricultural investment and exports, solidifying Nepal’s agricultural economy as a growth foundation.