ADS is a crucial document that will guide country´s agricultural sector for two decades once the existing Agriculture Perspective Plan (APP) expires in 2015.[break] Yet, according to farmers and civil society members, the government had started building the foundation of ADS without holding proper consultations with them and without incorporating their representatives in the steering committee that leads the ADS planning process.
After unhappy farmers and civil society bodies like the NGO Federation of Nepal exerted pressure on the government, the Ministry of Agricultural Development (MoAD) has finally decided to hold another round of discussions with ´protesting stakeholders´ and include their representatives in the committee.
“Our concerns have finally been addressed,” Prem Dangal, joint secretary of the All Nepal Peasants Federation, said. “Now there are farmers´ representatives as well in the planning team. And the decision to hold another round of consultation meetings throughout the country is also a welcome step.”
To hold consultations with more farmers and other stakeholders throughout the country, the MoAD, which is executing the planning process of ADS, has now formulated an action plan based on which meetings will be held in all five regions.
“These meetings will focus on making the assessment process more inclusive and incorporate voices of farmers from all parts of the country. During these meetings we will also discuss whether the previous assessment was inclusive and satisfactory,” Prabhakar Pathak, joint secretary at the MoAD, said, explaining, the meetings are being held again “after the ministry realized that concerns of farmers were genuine and should be addressed”.
The government is preparing the ADS with technical assistance from various donor agencies, including the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank and the United State Agency for International Development (USAID), among others.
The government has allocated $2 million (around Rs 160 million) to prepare the ADS. “But with the addition of programs (like revision of assessment process), that budget seems to be insufficient,” Pathak said. “We are trying to get additional fund from the ministry´s internal resources to fill that gap.”
Related story
Rapid assessment highlights child trauma and trust deficit foll...
