According to the Department of Customs, Nepal imported farm products worth Rs215.50 billion in the last fiscal year, up 10% year on year1. This new finding came as a huge surprise to most people as Nepal is a country primarily driven by the agriculture sector. Despite employing more than 60% of the total work force, the underlying challenges have inhibited the growth of the agro industry in Nepal.
SunFarmer Nepal is a solar powered irrigation solutions company that has been operating in Nepal since 2013 to support the agriculture sector and increase the income level of farmers. Together with UN Capital Development Fund programme MM4P, SunFarmer has been able to narrow down the top challenges that farmers face on a day-to-day basis:
Some of the main challenges of the agriculture sector in Nepal are:
- Unplanned crop production: Majority of farmers still abide by traditional methods of farming such as depending on rain for harvest. Such practices are not only unreliable but also unprofitable as lack of proper irrigation system cause crops and vegetables to dry-out before reaching maturity.
- Unfair pricing mechanisms: The produce changes multiple hands before reaching the end-customer, in due course the price of the produce inflates exponentially. The only party that benefits from this arrangement is the middle-men (wholesaler, retailer) while the farmer receives a fraction of the cost for his produce and the customer ends up paying a very high price.
- High-cost of agricultural tools: According to a research conducted by USAID KISAN I project, 70% of farmers claimed inaccessibility to irrigation as the biggest barrier to agriculture. An average farmer does not have the financial capacity to invest US$900-US$7000 to install a solar water pump. SaunFarmer Nepal introduced schemes that reduced the initial cost of acquiring the solar pumps, however, these arrangements have been unsuccessful.
SunFarmer Nepal and UNCDF are introducing Contract Farming and pay-as-you-go water access models for farmers. The SunFarmer: Contract Farming factsheet provides a brief overview on the innovative ways to address the on-going challenges of the agriculture sector.
#contractfarming #irrigation
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Publisher:
UNCDF
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(2018
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Type / Script:
Bulletin or Poster
in English
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Keywords:
AGRICULTURAL APPLICATIONS, AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION, AGRICULTURAL LAND, AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES, AGRICULTURAL WORKERS, CROP MANAGEMENT, LIVESTOCK INDUSTRY, WOMEN IN AGRICULTURE, CULTIVATION SYSTEMS, DRY FARMING, IRRIGATION, HALOPHYTES, CULTIVATION SYSTEMS
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Thematic Group:
UNCDF
:
Capital Development
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Thesaurus:
04.02.01
- Crop Management
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Reference Link:
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