Nepal : Sources of Growth in Agriculture for Poverty Reduction and Shared Prosperity
Agriculture contributes about 35 percent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Nepal. But growth in the sector has been quite volatile in the last decade, tothe extent that the lowest and highest growth rates were recorded in consecutive years. Ne...
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| Format: | Report |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2017
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/464681499870177588/Nepal-Sources-of-Growth-in-Agriculture-for-Poverty-Reduction-and-Shared-Prosperity http://hdl.handle.net/10986/28333 |
| Summary: | Agriculture contributes about 35 percent
to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Nepal. But growth in
the sector has been quite volatile in the last decade, tothe
extent that the lowest and highest growth rates were
recorded in consecutive years. Nepal agriculture is
characterized by relatively low yields compared to
neighboring countries. Furthermore,land is
disproportionately allocated to grain staples (rice, maize,
wheat, millet, barley, and buckwheat),despite fruits and
vegetables showing relatively higher yields and higher
growth in consumption. A proper understanding of the sources
of agriculture growth would help identify what kind of
agriculture offers most potential to further reduce poverty
and boost shared prosperity.Nepal is increasingly becoming a
net importer of food, both in high value foods such asfruits
and vegetables as well as staples such as rice, potatoes,
and maize. Expanding exports would require investments in
infrastructure and a conducive regulatory environment to
certify that products from Nepal achieve the various
Sanitary and Phyto-sanitary standards of foreign markets.
The main objective of this report is to identify policy and
investment priorities to stimulate agricultural growth for
poverty reduction and shared prosperity. The study
ultimately seeks to inform strategic dialogue between
Government of Nepal and the World Bank Group towards
investments inagriculture and supporting sectors. The report
provides building blocks to identify policy andinvestments
priorities. After a brief Introduction, Chapter 2 examines
the main drivers of agriculturefor poverty reduction and
shared prosperity. The key issues addressed are drivers of
agricultural income, drivers of total factor productivity
growth, emerging patterns of diversification, degree of
mechanization, and constraints to investments in the sector.
Chapter 3 examines the effects of public expenditures in
fertilizer and seed distribution programs, paying specific
attention to effects on: supply of fertilizers, fertilizer
application rates, retail prices, private sector
participation, performance of the distribution chain,
relative access between various categories of farmers, and
consistency of the program with inequalities in the
distribution of poverty and food and nutritional security.
Chapter 4 generates lessons on policy and investments to
expand exports. Chapter 5 generates lessons on policy and
investments to substitute imports. Chapter 6 provides
overall recommendations for policy and investments
priorities, while distinguishing between actions needed to
stimulate broad-based productivity growth with actions need
for export promotion and import substitution. |
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