Book launch: Prospects for Nepal’s agricultural transformation

BY REBIKA LAISHRAM

Agriculture is a vital sector of Nepal’s economy, contributing about 29% to the country’s GDP and employing about two thirds of the workforce. But the sector’s performance over the past 25 years has been shaky. A new book, Agricultural Transformation in Nepal: Trends, Prospects and Policy Options, explores the challenges the country faces as it attempts to navigate major changes, including boosting productivity and bringing smallholders into high-value agricultural production.

A Nov. 11 virtual book launch, organized by IFPRI’s South Asia Regional Office (IFPRI-SAR) in collaboration with the Nepal Institute for Integrated Development Studies (IIDS), examined the prospects for agricultural transformation.

“The issues covered in this book are wide-ranging, from the role of agriculture in Nepal’s structural transformation, to unlocking its production potentials, diversification, trade and marketing,” said IIDS Chairman Swarnim Wagle. “The book’s richness reflects the diverse partnerships both in terms of disciplinary scholars and institutional outreach.”