USAID Nepal Seed and Fertilizer

OVERVIEW

USAID’s Nepal Seed and Fertilizer activity builds competitive seed and fertilizer systems across the country. It better connects smallholder farmers to Nepal’s agricultural market system, boosts sustainable agricultural production, and increases crop productivity improving food security.

HIGHLIGHT

USAID’s Nepal Seed and Fertilizer makes investments that transform the country's seed and fertilizer sectors with the adoption of technology and private sector participation. The activity helped 131,000 farmers access technologies that produce significant yield increases in key crops, resulting in sales totaling more than $50 million.

USAID Nepal Seed and Fertilizer Partners with the Government of Nepal at every tier:

USAID partners with the GoN at the national, provincial, and local levels to strengthen the country’s seed and fertilizer systems. This is achieved by disseminating technologies, building technical capacity, and reforming policies at the appropriate levels, maximizing impact. USAID targets seed testing and development at the federal level, scaling soil fertility management technologies at the provincial level, and domain-specific fertilizer recommendations at the local level.

Supports private sector production of hybrid seed varieties:

USAID enhances seed production by supporting private seed companies in their research and development, business development, and advocacy. As the private sector demonstrates gains in productivity using hybrid seeds, it successfully advocates the GoN ministries to obtain exclusive licenses to register, release, and sell new hybrid seed varieties. This approach ushered in a new era of private sector-led domestic seed development and paved the way for more sustainable economic growth through agriculture.

Strengthens market resilience:

USAID is countering the global food crises by strengthening local food production and consumption. Targeted interventions improve the efficiency of agriculture supply chains, local cooperatives, and micro-, small-, and medium-sized agribusinesses. Enhancing the resilience of agriculture market systems is helping to address the impact of the global fertilizer shortage on domestic markets. To offset market disruptions, USAID is exploring locally produced fertilizer products, promoting innovative application techniques, and helping increase the availability and sources of fertilizer in the local markets.