FAO Representation Office

in Nepal

For a world without hunger Page 1

Number 02– March, 2015

Experts emphasize on strengthening forest tenure for sustaining livelihoods

FAO Nepal News Bulletin Bi-monthly

A two-day Asia Regional Inception Workshop on Strengthening

Forest Tenure for Sustaining Livelihoods and Generating Income was

jointly organized by Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation (MoFSC)

and Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) in Kathmandu on 11-12

February 2015 with facilitation and support under Technical Coopera-

tion Programme of FAO.

Nepal, Cambodia and Viet Nam are the pilot countries to work

with FAO to establish best practices.

Delivering key-note address, Mr. Sharad

Chandra Poudel, Secretary at Ministry of Forest

and Soil Conservation stressed on the need of

further promotion of the community forests.

Stating that two million households are

dependent on forest product for energy in Ne-

pal, Secretary Poudel highlighted the Forest

Policy 2015 that came up with the government

commitment of reforming forest tenure through appropriate policy

provisions.

In a message to the workshop, Hiroyuki Konuma, FAO Assistant

Director-General and Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific,

Agricultural Devel-opment Minister Hari Prasad Parajuli inaugurat-ed the Regional Work-shop on Pesticide Man-agement in Kathmandu on 26 January 2015. In his inaugural address,

Minister Parajuli emphasized importance of agriculture in the coun-try's economic and social development, and integrated pest and pes-ticide management in achieving sustainable food security without compromising environmental and people’s health. Dr. Somsak Pipoppinyo, FAO Country Representative, in his

welcome address to the delegates and guests, wished the workshop to

be successful in achieving its objectives. The opening session was

chaired by Dr. Udaya Chandra Thakur, Joint Secretary at the Ministry

of Agricultural Development.

The opening session was also addressed by Dr. Yongfan Piao, Secretary of the Asia-Pacific Plant Protection Commission (APPPC) and Senior FAO Plant Protection Officer, Dr. Yuwak Dhowaj GC Director General of the Department of Agriculture (DoA), and Mr. Dilli Ram Sharma, Programme Director of the Plant Protection Directorate (PPD) in the DoA.

contd. in page 4

Code for minimizing adverse effects of pesticide in environment and human health

said, “Recognition of the importance of strengthening community

forest tenure, both from policy and institutional capacity perspectives,

to ensure livelihoods and increase income of forest dependent people

is well-reflected in the development priorities of these pilot

countries.” Dr. Somasak Pipoppinyo, FAO Representative in Nepal,

who read out the message of ADG Konuma, extended good wishes to

the participants for the success of the workshop. Dr. Rajan Kumar

Pokharel, Director General at Department of

Forest, highlighted on strengthening forest

tenure through community-based forest man-

agement modalities and arrangements for

equitable benefits sharing in Nepal. Mr. Bishwa

Nath Oli, Joint-secretary at MoFSC welcomed

the participants on behalf of the organizers.

Experts from FAO Regional Office Bangkok

Mr. Patrick Durst, Mr. Yurdi Yasmi and Dr. Ganga Dahal, and Country

Director of ICUN Dr. Yam Bahadur Malla facilitated the workshop. The

participants visited leasehold and community forests in Kabhrepalan-

chok district. (See also http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/templates/rap/files

meetings/2015/150211_concept_note_and_agenda.pdf)

FAO Nepal News Bulletin

For a world without hunger page 2

The TCP project of the FAO “Policy assistance for Biosecure agro-food chain for enhanced market access and food security for the smallholding rural sector” was implemented during September 2012 to December 2014. As the set objectives of the project, biosecurity

status of the country was assessed and report on “Biosecurity Status of Food and Agriculture in Nepal” was published. National Biosecurity Policy and biosecurity bill were developed and submitted to the gov-ernment for approval process. Biosecurity and risk analysis trainings were provided to government staff, private food and agricultural en-trepreneurs and farmers. Also, national food control system was strengthened through development of food standards and capacity enhancement of National Codex Committee. Food standards of ex-portable commodities were also developed and submitted to the government for approval process. As a part of capacity building out-put of the project, a policy makers level biosecurity workshop was organized in Lalitpur on 16 December 2014 with the objectives of sharing outputs of the project and finding way forward. A total of 30 high level policy makers of the government participated in the pro-gramme. The workshop chaired by Mr. Jaya Mukunda Khanal, Secre-

tary, Ministry of Agricultural Development (MoAD) decided several way forwards that include approval of the national biosecurity policy as an umbrella policy, development of good practices standards, setting up a biosecurity desk in each of the related departments and development of a new project for implementation of the biosecurity policy at wider scale. The final sharing workshop of the project was conducted in Kathmandu on 22nd December 2014 with the objectives to share the outputs of the project with stakeholders and to get com-mitment of relevant agencies of the government and other stakehold-ers for implementation of the project results. The workshop chaired by Mr.Jaya Mukunda Khanal , Secretary at MoAD formally took the outputs of the project for further process of implementation.

FAO extends policy assistance for food security

Regional Support Unit and Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases (ECTAD) Unit (SAARC) of FAO based in Nepal is closely monitoring Avian influenza outbreak of which occurs from time to time in Nepal. Avian influenza is caused by avian influenza viruses (AIVs), which belong to genus Type A Influenza viruses of the Orthomyxoviridae family. The AIVs are sub-classified as high pathogen-ic (HPAIV) and low pathogenic (LPAIV) based on their pathogenicity to domestic poultry. LPAIV infections are eco-nomically important. The major signs are loss in egg production by layers and weight gain by broilers apart from the birds' associated mortality. The clinical signs among the affected birds vary considerably from nil to low or moderate illness. The mostcommon LPAIV infection in poultry is reported due to H9N2 subtype in Nepal. The most common HPAIV infection in poultry reported in Nepal is due to H5N1 subtype. As updated, HPAIV surveillance in Nepal has been categorized into high (20), medium (21) and low (34) risk districts with 6 wild water bird zones. The first case of bird flu (H5N1 Clade 2.2) was re-ported in Nepal in 2009 in Jhapa district, the farthest eastern district bor-dering India and near to Siliguri, Darjeeling district of West Bengal a major marketing state. The outbreak occurred in areas of high poultry density with mixed peri-urban small to medium sized commercial producers and backyard flocks. The subsequent outbreak of bird flu (H5N1 Clade 2.3.2, now classified as 2.3.2.1a) was first reported in 2010 in Kaski district that later spread to Tanahu and other six districts along the east-west high- way between Chitwan and Kailali. This clade type was first of this in the south Asia at the time of outbreak; however this clade is closely related to isolates from India and Bangladesh. There are 216 outbreaks covering 18 districts. The massive outbreak occurred in 2013 accounted for more than half of the outbreaks alone. The subsequent outbreak of bird flu H5N1 Clade 2.3.2 (now classified as 2.3.2.1a) The H5N1 Clade 2.3.2 type bird flu outbreaks were also reported in 2014. The population of poultry in Nepal increased from 2010 to 2013 by 55% (53 to 82 million) that also included an increase by 25.3% in the num-ber of layers due mainly to old-aged layers. Poultry density is intensifying and many new poultry producers, sometimes with little training or experi-ence, are entering into the business. During 2012 and 2013 and single outbreak in 2014, all identified H5N1 isolates are 2.3.2.1a, suggesting internal recycling of virus in Nepal. Information from the poultry producer association reveals previously undeclared infections in commercial units in Chitwan and neighbouring poultry production districts, where broiler breeders, egg layer breeders and the majority of long-lived commercial chicken egg layers are raised. These producers have reported an increas-ing number of outbreaks during the past year as compared with previous years. From Chitwan, poultry supply channels reach out along east west highway and to Kaski and as well as to Kathmandu valley. There is no new outbreak reported after 2014. However, there is an urgent need for detail evaluation of AI virus incurred economic loss in poultry industry. Intensive surveillance with data sharing, either bilateral or through international agencies, and creation of awareness on biosecurity measures among the stake- holders of poultry industry would result in better management of AI virus infection. Continuous characterization of the circulating AI strains would help in understanding evolution of the viruses and identifying the public health risk posed by them.

Avian Influenza status in Nepal

For a world without hunger page 3

FAO Nepal News Bulletin

Govt officials skill upgraded to use IPC-Chronic tools

Finalization Workshop on IPC–Chronic was organized in Lalitpur on 23 Feb, 2015. Speaking from the Chair, Dr Dinesh Prasad Parajuli, Coordinator of IPC Na-tional Technical Working Group and Joint Secretary of Ministry of Agricultur-al Development, said that IPC Chronic will be instrumental in linking the Acute and Chronic Situation of Food insecurity. Dr. Parajuli as-sured that the Government of Nepal should own all the process and output of the analysis. Mr. Shrawan Adhikary, FAO Program Officer, Mr Pushpa Shrestha, NEKSAP Coordinator of WFP and Mr. Hem Raj Regmi, Un-der Secretary of MoAD emphasized on strengthening and institution-alizing IPC tools. The workshop focused on three agenda: completing the incomplete section of IPC Information Support System (ISS) portal of Nepal, strengthening of justification and analysis of underlying factors of food security and reviewing the outcome classification. Different five groups worked separately to finalize the analysis for 13 sub-regions of Nepal. All the feedbacks and recommendations from Quality Review are incorporated in analysis. Twenty-four participants representing government and non- government agencies attended the finalization workshop.

FAO, in collaboration with National Peasant Coalition Nepal, organized an interaction program "Dialogue on Right to Food and Food Sover-eignty with CA Members" on 7 Feb. 2015 in Kathmandu. Agricultural Development Minister Hari Prasad Parajuli, who was the chief guest of the program, said

that the Right to Food is a universally accepted people's right which is to be mandatorily honored by the state. Welcoming the participants, Dr. Somsak Pipoppinyo said that farmers should be con-sulted in development of any 'Right to Food' relat-ed framework. Former Minister Ganesh Shah, Mr. Bhanu Sigdel, Chairperson of Nepal Farmer Associa-tion, Mrs. Sharmila Karki, President of NGO Federation of Nepal and Mrs. Sabitra Bhusal, General Secretary of Inter-party Women Network stressed on the need of awareness among farmers on their rights. They also said the farmers right should be incorporated in the consti-tutional framework. Mr. Chitra Bahadur Shrestha, Chairperson of All Nepal Peasants Federation (revolutionary) presided over the program attended by 70 participants comprising of Constituent Assembly (CA) members, members of civil society, professional organizations and NGOs.

Dialogue with lawmakers on Right to Food

Pro-poor policy to reduce risk and vulnerability

A one-day work-shop on “ Use of Poverty and Vulnerability

Assessment Tool (quantitative) and Participatory Rapid Appraisal (qualitative) for Risk and Vulnerability Assessment in Nepal” was orga-nized in collaboration with the Ministry of Agricultural Development (MoAD), FAO, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) in Lalitpur on 26 December 2014. This was one of the activities of “Pro-poor Policy Approaches to Address Risk and Vulnerability at the Country Level” which is a joint Program of FAO and IFAD implemented in close coordina-tion with the MoAD. The Program aims at further developing policy analy-sis and policy development capacity with a sharper focus on pro-poor policies that would specifically address the risks and challenges faced by the smallholder farmers and the landless rural poor. The Program is in implementation in four countries namely Cambodia, Laos, Nepal and Vi-etnam. The first policy study focuses on the effects of climate change and natural disasters and the second on the effects of price volatility, market integration and value chain on smallholder farmers and the landless rural poor of Nepal. Welcoming the participants, Dr. Binod Saha, Assistant FAOR, expressed the hope that the participants would be benefited from the workshop. Dr. Dhrupad Choudhury and Dr. Bikash Sharma, senior experts of ICIMOD facilitated the workshop .

Nepal Agriculture Cooperative Central Federation Limited (NACCFL) organized a workshop on “Good Practices on Cooperative and Financial Man-agement” from 2 to 4 February 2015, which was consequently fol-lowed by a Training of the Trainers (ToT) on “Cooperative Performance and Financial Management from 5 to 9 February, 2015 at Central Training Institute, Bode, Bhaktapur. Both the workshops were jointly supported by FAO and IFAD. FAO experts Ms. Mariagrazia Rocchigiani and Mr. Toshiaki Ono were the key facilitators of the workshops. The programmes were also facilitated by Mr. Hiroshi Terunuma from Institute for the Develop-ment of Agricultural Cooperation in Asia, Japan, Mr. Jae-Min Park, Head of International Cooperation Team, South Korea, Mr. Tashi Wangdu, Federation of Tibetan Cooperatives in India and Mr. Navin-dra Liyanaarachchi, SANASA Federation Ltd. of Sri Lanka. Mr. Keshav Badal, Chairperson of the National Cooperative Fed-eration-Nepal, Dr. Min Bahadur Shrestha, Nepal Rastra Bank, Mr. Khem Bahadur Pathak, Chairperson in NACCFL, Mr. Rudra Bhattarai, General Man ager, NACCFL and Ms. Meena Pokhrel, Program Manag-er, NACCFL. were the national facilitators of the workshops. 60 partic-ipants from different cooperative societies, based in Mid-Western Development Regions, were benefitted from the workshops to up-grade their knowledge on national and international best practices of cooperative management and financial management. The TOT also

Capacity enhancement of cooperative managers

FAO Nepal News Bulletin

FAO Representation in Nepal

United Nations Building

Pulchowk, Lalitpur

KATHMANDU NEPAL

Mailing Address:

PO Box 25, UN House, Pulchowk, Kathmandu, NEPAL

Telephone: +977-1-5523200; Fax: +977-1-5526358;

E-mail: FAO-NP@fao.org

For a world without hunger page 4

Contd. from page 1…

The speakers expressed their thanks to the organizers of the workshop and the Government of Nepal for hosting the workshop. Dr. Gerd Walter- Echols presented the summary and highlights of the questionnaire results. Dr. Echols elucidated, "There is a need to understand pesticides life cycles and how the pesticides are used by farmers. State policies play an Important role in influencing judicious use of pesticides and min-imizing their adverse effects in environment and human health." The five-day work-shop, that took place from 26 to 30 January 2015 was attended by 28 participants from 12 Asian countries. Objectives of the workshop were to strengthen pesticide management capacities of the countries and to assist them in ad-dressing their obligations under the Code of Conduct and the Rotter-dam Convention. The workshop, jointly organized by PPD Nepal and APPPC and supported by FAO, was facilitated by Mr. Piao Yongfan, Mr. Gerd Walter-Echols, Consultant to FAO, Ms. Yun Zhou, Agricul-

ture Officer at FAO Hqrs, Rome and Mr. Dilli Ram Sharma. The partici-pants visited the Kalimati Vegetable Wholesale Market in Kathmandu, where a small laboratory for rapid bioassay for pesticide residues was established in June 2014. They also visited Kushadevi in Kabhrepalan-chok district, 50 km to the southeast of Kathmandu, where an IPM Resource Centre established by the National IPM Programme in sup-port of FAO is operative since 2013. The participants also visited the panoramic hill town of Dhulikhel and the historic city of Bhaktapur. See also http://www.apppc.org/content/apppc-workshop-code-conduct-pesticide-management-26-30-january-2015-nepal-report-and

Code for minimizing adverse effects ... Nepal to adopt the GAP Scheme soon

The Government of Nepal, Ministry of Agricultural Develop-ment (MoAD) and the FAO jointly organized the National Stakehold-ers consultation workshop on Good Agriculture Practice (GAP) scheme for Nepal on 03 March 2015. The objective of the workshop was focused on the “Development of Standards and scheme for Good Agriculture Practice (GAP) implementation and certification in coun-tries of SAARC”. Speaking from the chair, Mr. Jaya Mukunda Khanal, Secretary at the Ministry of Agricultural Development, highlighted the importance in the country and identified it as an important issue of livelihood He informed that for Nepal SAARC is an important market and for the SAARC GAP Scheme it is pertinent time for its launch. He appreciated the timely initiative of FAO in supporting Nepal to develop infrastruc-ture to meet the market requirement. He also informed that an ac-

creditation board under the Accreditation Act is going to be promul-gated soon by the Government of Nepal. Dr. Somsak Pipoppinyo, FAO Representative in Nepal, said that the initiative will provide a strong mechanism for implementing good practices by producers. He further added that the initiative will en-sure an internationally acceptable certification scheme. Dr. Dinesh Prasad Parajauli, Joint Secretary at the MoAD highlighted on the im-portance of GAP and its recognition by the Government of Nepal for the well-being of the farmers. Dr. Parajuli, who is also the Member-Secretary of GAP Steering Committee, highlighted the needs and importance of GAP in Nepal. Ms. Shashi Sareen, Senior Food Safety and Nutrition Officer, RAP, FAO, informed that Nepal was one of the pilot countries

amongst four SAARC countries namely Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Maldives. In the technical sessions of the workshop, the FAO experts Ms. Shashi Sareen, Mr Dinesh Menon and Mr Man-

ish Pande made presentations on “SAARC GAP Scheme and Role of Scheme Owner”, “Requirements for certification bodies and their approval” and Requirements and Certification Criteria” respectively. The technical sessions were presided over by Dr. Dinesh Prasad Pra-jauli, Joint Secretary at the MoAD and Dr. Yubak Dhwaj GC, Director- General of the Department of Agriculture. In the concluding session Ms. Shabnam Shivakoti, Joint Secretary at MoAD, made presentation on National Action Plan based on discussion including approvals needed and preparations by different Organizations for Nepal. Speaking from the chair of the concluding session, Dr. Rajendra Adhi-kari, Joint-Secretary at MoAD, highlighted the need of integration of multiple initiative in developing the objectives of GAP Scheme. He also emphasized the importance of ensuring that the standard met the requirements of domestic, regional and global markets.