Climate-smart agriculture in Nepal

The document identifies 17 'champion' climate-smart agriculture (CSA) technologies for Nepal, categorised by agro-ecological region (high-hills, mid-hills, and Terai). It argues that scaling up these technologies is a non-linear process requiring multi-sectoral collaboration and proposes three specific models for diffusion: knowledge-transfer, commercial business, and policy incidence. The brief highlights a gap between Nepal's policy intentions and actual implementation, noting that limited evidence-based knowledge and weak institutional coordination hinder the adoption of climate-resilient farming practices.

• The project identified a total of 17 champion CSA options for Nepal, with 11 for high-hills, 13 for mid-hills, and 10 for Terai regions. Seven of these options are considered to have high potential for application across all three agro-ecological regions.
• Climate change causes significant economic damage to Nepal's agriculture, with direct annual losses estimated at approximately 0.8% of current GDP and a projected adaptation deficit of US$2.4 billion by 2030 across three sectors, including agriculture.
• Analysis of climate analogue sites in Nawalparasi, Kaski, and Lamjung districts shows that currently, over 65% of the area has 25–50% climate similarity, while areas with more than 75% similarity are very few, ranging from <1% to 9.5%.
• There is a significant disconnect between Nepal's policy intentions and their execution; policy goals are rarely translated into annual plans, budgets, and actions due to inadequate evidence bases, weak coordination between government and private sectors, and limited human and financial resources.
• The project proposes three distinct models for scaling up CSA technologies based on their nature: a knowledge-transfer model for knowledge-intensive options, a commercial business model for input-intensive or proprietary options, and a policy incidence model for those requiring the removal of policy bottlenecks or increased government support.

APA

Paudel, B., Khanal, R. C., KC, A., Bhatta, K., & Chaudhary, P. (2017). Climate-smart agriculture in Nepal. Climate and Development Knowledge Network. https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/Nepal-agriculture-synthesis-final444.pdf

Chicago

Paudel, Bikash, Ram Chandra Khanal, Arun KC, Kiran Bhatta, and Pashupati Chaudhary. Climate-smart agriculture in Nepal. Climate and Development Knowledge Network, 2017. https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/Nepal-agriculture-synthesis-final444.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Paudel |first1=Bikash |last2=Khanal |first2=Ram Chandra |last3=KC |first3=Arun |last4=Bhatta |first4=Kiran |last5=Chaudhary |first5=Pashupati |title=Climate-smart agriculture in Nepal |publisher=Climate and Development Knowledge Network |date=May 2017 |url=https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/Nepal-agriculture-synthesis-final444.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{paudel2017climatesmart, author = {Paudel, Bikash and Khanal, Ram Chandra and KC, Arun and Bhatta, Kiran and Chaudhary, Pashupati}, title = {{Climate-smart agriculture in Nepal}}, institution = {Climate and Development Knowledge Network}, year = {2017}, month = may, url = {https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/Nepal-agriculture-synthesis-final444.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }