Nepal’s offered agriculture road map as it prepares for federalism
The paper looks at how wisdom gleaned from similar structures of government can help Nepal’s farmers weather the change in a sector that provides work for two-thirds of the population, and accounts for one-third of the GDP and half of all exports.
A smooth transition in management of the agricultural sector to the new federal system is crucial to ensuring stability, said Daniel Resnick, a senior research fellow at IFPRI and an author of the report.
“Agriculture forms the backbone of the Nepali economy. To preserve its role the government must clearly map out the divisions of authority at each level and establish vertical coordination across all levels of government, while avoiding a one-size-fits-all solutions.”
The authors conducted an original survey of 100 agriculture officials at a local level, as well as more than two-dozen interviews with high-level stakeholders. Their analysis considers examples from India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia and South Africa.
“Nepal is much smaller than our other examples, and adapting their lessons will require a smaller scale,” said Resnick. “As decentralisation proceeds, local governments should not receive obligations that exceed their ability to provide services, or the citizens could quickly lose faith.”
But Nepal’s decade of experience with local government and decentralisation will ease this transition, said Jordan Kyle, another author.
“The new constitution has strong provisions for food security, and the last ten years have taught citizens how to articulate their demands for local agricultural planning priorities. Without that experience, federalism would have been a much harder change,” Kyle said.
