Neftalk X GIZ on Materializing the Vision for Organic Province | Karnali Province

Materializing the Vision for Organic Province - Challenges, Opportunities, Way forward, and lessons learnt

31 January 2023; Suva Hotel, Birendranagar

Organic Agriculture is a production system that sustains the health of soils, ecosystems, and people. It relies on ecological processes, biodiversity, and cycles adapted to local conditions, rather than the use of inputs with adverse effects. Higher costs due to agro-chemicals and resulting environmental losses incurred in conventional agriculture on one side and higher advantages of ecological diversities available in the country on the other have proved that Nepal has high potential and comparative advantages of producing quality organic products. However, much of the national policy documents on organic agriculture favored ‘income’ and perceived organic products as luxurious goods. As a result, much of the innovation in organic agriculture, government priorities, and people’s perceptions are inclined towards earning dollars rather than environmental conservation and sustainability of the farming system.

In this context, many efforts are being made to turn Karnali Province into an ‘Organic Province’ and the provincial government has been allocating tens of millions of rupees to promote organic farming in the province for projects ranging from creating organic villages to establishing laboratories. Hence, this session will delve into the challenges, opportunities, and way forward for materializing the vision of Karnali Province being an organic province.

Panelists:
Sagar GC, Team Leader, Green Karnali Project, LI-BIRD
Neha Thapa, Sr. Area Coordinator, KISAN II Project, CEAPRED
Mahesh Acharya, Agriculture Extension Officer, Ministry of Land Management, Agriculture and Cooperative (MoLMAC), Karnali Province, Nepal.

Moderator: Sujeev Shakya, Chair, NEF