Agricultural potential of Nepal has not been realized because of organizational weakness and budget constraints. Changes have been made in the organizational set, but only to meet personal interest of politicians and senior bureaucrats. Such changes, enforced on personal whims, resulted in poor coordination among ministries and departments in planning and implementing programs. This mistake has been repeated again. The government has split the Ministry of Agriculture Development—into the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Livestock Development—without proper homework. This was untimely and unnecessary.
Any organizational change aimed at agricultural reform should be in line with the existing farming system. Can we get farmers who have livestock not to grow crops or vice versa? Hardly. Our traditional farming is integrates crops, livestock and forestry, which is why it is organic. Crop residues provide feed for livestock and livestock wastes provide nutrients for crops. Forestry products are needed for both livestock and crops. Farmers are looking for an integrated organization from where they can get all necessary services and inputs. But the government has split the agriculture ministry.
Actually, this is the time for preparing federal and local government structures instead of increasing the number of ministries. Adding to the number of ministries will not only add financial burden at the time of economic recession, but also disturb functioning of both ministries.
Former Chief Secretary Leelamani Paudyal has rightly said setting up office and other basic auxiliaries for the new ministries will take more than six months. Besides, there will be other adverse effects. By the time the new ministries start functioning, the federal structure may be operative. Then the government will again have to merge the two ministries.
The new constitution accords limited roles to federal government in agriculture development including livestock. This rather falls under the ambit of provincial and local governments. Implementation of federalism will bring new challenges in institutional roles and responsibilities of federal, provincial and local agencies. New administrative layers will add to complexity. The current operational arrangements, where roles and responsibilities of federal, provincial and local Governments are not defined, need revision.
Agriculture development under federal setup should be a shared responsibility of all three tiers of government. The federal government should work on policy-related issues and matters of national importance such as market development, river basin development, agriculture input subsidy, establishment of buffer stock, quality control and certification of exports, among others.
Provincial government should be involved in agriculture to ensure sustainable development and prevent food scarcity in respective provinces. Agricultural support services should include land management, production input management, insurance, service delivery, location specific research, and disease/pest control. Local governments will work as a vehicle to implement these programs.
In order to strengthen the capacity of all actors involved in agriculture at provincial and local levels, the federal government should support provincial government and the provincial government should help local government. Local government capability in development planning, delivery and improvement of service should be enhanced. Empowerment and consolidation for progressive devolution of governance to local level should be supported through policy dialogue and improved knowledge management. Robust farmer associations should be developed as part of a strong local governance framework that can lead to empowerment of poor farmers.
Provincial and local governments should be given greater responsibility in matters related to agriculture development because they are closer to farmers and know their problems. Public sector as a facilitator should be more concerned about creating a suitable environment for agricultural production activities without being directly involved.
The organization structure of federal government should be small and simple to provide needed supports to provincial and local governments. Only Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, as an integrated whole, can carry out this responsibility. Perhaps all agriculture departments will be under provincial structure. As suggested in Agriculture Development Strategy, community managed service centers should be established for service delivery at community level. Efficient institutional coordination arrangement should be in place at all levels to improve program implementation. Unnecessary overlapping of responsibilities should be avoided.
Splitting the ministry won’t help us in this. The government decision to split the Ministry of Agriculture Development is against the spirit of federalism. It also shows the government is not serious about implementation of the new constitution.
The author is former director general of the Department of Agriculture under the Ministry of Agriculture Development
bhairabr@gmail.com
Related story
Divide and rue
_20220428065731.jpeg)
