Minister calls for coordination between govt and donors

Kathmandu, May 29: Minister for Agricultural Development Haribol Gajurel Sunday said that the foreign aid in agriculture sector had not been effective due to lack of coordination between the government and donors.

“Various donors are implementing their programmes in their own while the Ministry of Agricultural Development (MoAD) is working in a traditional way and sometimes does not have any idea about the activities happening on the ground,” said the Minister while inaugurating a two-day international conference on ‘Sustainable agricultural growth in Nepal: challenges, opportunities and options’ in the capital.

While saying the foreign assistance and technical support was needed for the country, he maintained that such assistance should be linked to the national development process.

“Our economic and social structure as well as priorities are different. Donors should understand our priorities and extend their support through government channel.”

However, Minister Gajurel admitted that there were also various lapses in the government’s side as it did not conduct any study to specify priorities of the society and did not create the database of need.

“Nepal has great potential in organic agriculture so we need high quality seeds, technology and skill. Therefore, I urge the international community to help Nepal with elements,” said Gajurel.

Shenggen Fan, director general of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), said that agriculture needed a new strategy which should make sure that the local technology, skill and tradition were taken into consideration.

He emphasized on the coordination between the government and donors. “There should be a database as to who is doing what where. The government’s duty is to find the gaps in development and channelize support to those areas.”

Appreciating Nepal’s relief and recovery efforts in the aftermath of the devastating earthquakes in the April and May last year, Fan urged to have better infrastructure, access to telecom and food reserve specially for the poor in order to increase resistance capacity.

Economist and Chairman of the Nepal Economic Association (NEA), Prof. Dr. Bishwambher Pyakuryal, said that the improved agricultural productivity lead to economic growth.

He appreciated the budget of the Fiscal Year 2016/17 for increasing the agricultural budget by 57 per cent than the current fiscal.

“It shows that the government is committed for modernization and commercialization of agriculture.”

P. K. Joshi, director of IFPRI for South Asia said that Nepal had potential to emerge as a leader in livestock specially in dairy sector.

General secretary of NEA Gopal Tiwari listed unavailability of technology, lack of strong institution, poor infrastructure, weak implementation of budget, lack of hybrid seeds and absence of contract farming as the reasons behind the underdevelopment of agriculture in the country.