NDC meets to finalise concept paper of 15th five-year plan

The National Development Council (NDC) meeting – the first one after the country entered into the federal set-up – kicked off today in Kathmandu to give final shape to the concept paper of the 15th five-year plan (fiscal years 2019-20 AD to 2023-24 AD).
The concept paper prepared by the National Planning Commission (NPC) with the government's vision of 'Prosperous Nepal, Happy Nepal', will be forwarded to the Cabinet for its endorsement after NDC finalises it.
The meeting inaugurated by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli will also witness deliberations on the draft of the 25-year development concept paper will continue till tomorrow.
Speaking at a programme a member of the NPC Min Bahadur Shahi said that the NDC meeting will also hold discussions on the draft 25-year development concept paper. "The five-year periodic plan has addressed the government’s vision of ‘Prosperous Nepal, Happy Nepali’," he said, adding that the NPC had taken inputs for the draft of the 15th five-year periodic plan from various stakeholders.
Likewise, vice chair of NPC Pushpa Raj Kandel said that the final document will be prepared before April 20 and forward it to the Cabinet for approval.
Though, NPC had set a target to achieve a minimum average economic growth of 9.4 per cent per annum in the next five years, earlier, the draft envisions that the economy can grow up to 10.1 per cent per annum in the next five years based on different scenarios.
The draft of the periodic plan also envisions the country’s agriculture sector to witness average growth of 5.6 per cent per annum in next five years while the industrial sector can witness average growth of 17.1 per cent per annum. Likewise, the services sector is expected to witness 9.9 per cent growth per annum in between fiscal years 2019-20 and 2023-24.
The government had last introduced a five-year periodic plan in 2001, which lasted till 2006. Since then the government had introduced only three-year interim periodic plans on four occasions due to political transition.

Agriculture initiatives to reduce poverty, hunger across western Nepal

Ministry of Agricultural Development, Health and Population, the US Agency for International Development (USAID), and the World Bank jointly launched two new food security initiatives: the Knowledge-based Integrated Sustainable Agriculture and Nutrition Project (KISAN) and the Agriculture and Food Security Project (AFSP).

The projects will work in the west, mid-west, and far-west regions of the country.

Knowledge-based Integrated Sustainable Agriculture and Nutrition Project is USAID’s five-year, a $20.4-million Feed the Future initiative that will improve food security, increase income, and diversify diets for 160,000 disadvantaged rural households, for about one million rural Nepalis, across 20 districts through integrated agriculture and nutrition activities.

Likewise, Agriculture and Food Security Project, a five-year project, will be implemented by the government line ministries and aims at improving food security situation of 150,000 households of poor and marginal groups by increasing agricultural production, increasing livelihood options and household income, and improving utilisation of food.

The recently approved Multi Sector Nutrition Plan and recently prepared Agriculture Development Strategy will guide the future direction of agriculture, food and nutrition security, said chair of the programme and vice chair of National Planning Commission (NPC), Dr Rabindra Kumar Shakya on the launching seremony here today.
He emphasised the need for increased investment and improved coordination for the optimum development of the sectors.

Speaking on the occasion, US ambassador Peter Bodde said that both the projects reflect the US government’s commitment to food security through President Obama’s Feed the Future and Global Health Initiatives. “Instead of simply delivering food aid, these Initiatives place Nepal and other countries in the lead to promote inclusive agricultural growth and improve the nutrition of women and children,” he said, applauding the government for identifying their priorities and devising their own plans, which both projects will support.

Similarly country manager of the World Bank for Nepal Tahseen Sayed reiterated the need for cooperation between the two ministries for the success of the projects and AFSP’s alignment with the government priorities. The two projects are part of larger global initiatives and are unique in that both feature integrated agriculture and nutrition approaches to combat food insecurity and chronic malnutrition.

The Knowledge-based Integrated Sustainable Agriculture and Nutrition (KISAN) Project is funded by the USAID and is part of the Presidential Feed the Future (FTF) Initiative in Nepal. It seeks to sustainably reduce poverty and hunger in Nepal by achieving inclusive growth in the agriculture sector, increasing income of farm families and improving nutritional status, especially of women and children in over 160,000 households. USAID will implement the project from 2013-2018 with Winrock International in collaboration with five organisations:  Antenna Foundation Nepal; Development Project Service Center (DEPROSC); Center for Environmental and Agricultural Policy, Research, Extension and Development (CEAPRED); Nutrition Promotion and Consultancy Services (NPCS); and Nepal Water for Health (NEWAH). KISAN will impact 1 million Nepalis in Kapilbastu, Palpa, Agarkhachi, Gulmi, Banke, Bardiya, Surkhet, Dailekh, Jajarkot Dang, Salyan, Rukum, Rolpa, Pyuthan, Baitadi, Kailali, Kanchanpur, Doti, Accham, Dadheldhura.

Agriculture and Food Security Project (AFSP)

It is funded by the Global Agriculture and Food Security Programme (GAFSP) that is a global programme working in 18 countries with $1.3 billion in grant funds provided by nine G20 members and the Gates Foundation. The US is largest single donor to the fund. It aims at improving food security situation of poor and marginal groups of population by increasing agricultural production and productivity, increasing livelihood options and household income, and improving utilisation of food. The project has four main components: technology development and adaptation; technology dissemination and adoption; food and nutritional status enhancement and project management. The priority target groups of the project are small and marginal farmers, landless households, indigenous population, and Dalits. To be implemented in 19 hill and mountain districts of the mid- and far-western development regions of Nepal – Darchula, Baitadi, Bajhang, Bajura, Humla, Jumla, Dolpa, Mugu, Kalikot, Surkhet, Dailekh, Jajarkot, Salyan, Rukum, Rolpa, Pyuthan, Accham, Dadheldhura and Doti – it is will be implemented by Ministry of Agriculture Development with support from Ministry of Health and Population, with monitoring and supervision provided by the World Bank.

Finance Ministry calls to expedite capital expenditure

Finance Ministry has said that it is ready to facilitate in increasing capital expenditure for development projects.
"The ministry is ready to simplify constraints in priority projects," said finance secretary Shantaraj Subedi during the evaluation meeting of budget ordinance.
The meeting that has also evaluated Priority one and Priority two projects has also claimed that there will be no budget crunch for the priority projects.
Subedi, on the occasion, stressed on giving priority to pro-people programmes like crops and livestock insurance, interest subsidy and youth self-reliant programmes. He asked project officers to submit progress report on time regularly. "It will be easier for the ministry to provide budget in time," he said, adding that the capital expenditure has to be expedited.
In the meeting, secretary of Prime Minister Office and Council of Ministers Krishnahari Baskota urged to increase effectiveness of capital expenditure.
"We should reduce training and foreign visits in health and education sector and increase budget in pro-people programmes," he said, adding that the government can spend Rs 364 billion according to the need.
"Road linking Humla to other parts of the country is a must and it should have sufficient budget," he added.
Likewise, vice chair of National Planning Commission Deependra Bahadur Kshetry said that the commission is ready to support the government to meet development targets. "We will approve programmes in time," he said, urging to contact top brasses directly, if any ministry faces any delay.
However, the caretaker government has been facing trouble to spend development budget that could generate employment and help develop infrastructure to fuel economic growth.
On the occasion, finance minister Barsha Man Pun said that the difficulties in implementation of the budget would be taken care of through immediate discussion. "But, we have to give priority to programmes that would ease lives of people," he said, adding that matching fund for donor assisted projects, national priority projects and multi-year contract projects should also get priority immediately.
He also assured that the government will provide full budget to election, combatant reintegration, load-shedding reduction programme, and chemical fertiliser subsidy and road expansion.
He was surprised on inefficiency of ministries to spend even one-third development budget. "Every ministry are claiming that they have budget crunch but they have spent only 41 per cent of their capital expenditure," he said.
Ministry of Finance and National Planning Commission (NPC) should work together to ease budget crunch and mobilise resources in priority programmes, Pun said. "Inter-ministerial problems could be solved from the coordination committee formed under chief secretary."

Govt to handle food security monitoring system

The World Food Programme (WFP) today signed an agreement with National Planning Commission (NPC) and the Ministry of Agriculture Development (MoAD) to transfer and institutionalise the national food security monitoring system under the ownership of the government.

The Nepal Food Security Monitoring System, popularly known as Nepal Khadya Surakshya Anugaman Pranali (NeKSAP), has the primary objective of collecting, consolidating and analysing food security data to be used by decision makers, allowing them to take coordinated and timely action to alleviate food insecurity in the country.

It was established in 2002 by WFP, and is currently managed in collaboration with the ministry. "NeKSAP has evolved over time based on a strong collaboration between various national institutions," said WFP deputy country director Nicolas Oberlin. "The new agreement will further strengthen the system and fully capacitate the government to design evidence-based food security policies and programmes to tackle food insecurity in the country."

NeKSAP collects and analyses food security data and disseminates information from across the country, covering household food security, emerging crises, food markets, agricultural production and nutrition. District Food Security Networks established in 72 of the 75 districts, are at the core of NeKSAP. They comprise of officials and representatives from district-based government agencies, development partners like NGOs, and UN agencies, as well as civil society.

The district networks assess and monitor the food security situation in the respective districts using a standardised food security phase classification approach.

The WFP is providing technical and financial support to the government, with financial assistance from the European Union. The planning commission will provide overall policy guidance and ensure inter-ministerial coordination, while the ministry will take the lead in implementing the project as the key technical institution.

The hand-over process will be gradually implemented, to ensure full ownership of NeKSAP by the government by 2016.

More than 3.5 million people are currently considered to be food-insecure in Nepal, and 41 per cent of the population is estimated to be undernourished. The WFP is currently providing food assistance to over one million people in the country.

FDI in country sees downward trend

Lately, the country has been receiving fewer foreign direct investments (FDI) due to perennial problems like poor industrial relations, political instability, lack of quality physical and social infrastructure, more fragmentation and enforcement of contracts, coupled with the lack of intellectual property protection and security threats, despite huge potential.

"Nepal received six times less FDI at only four paisa for every Rs 100 foreign direct investment that entered South Asia in 2005-2010, from some 23 paisa in 1998-2000," said former economic advisor of the Finance Ministry Keshav Acharya.

The FDI that the country received was, however, the lowest in the South Asian countries like India — the largest foreign direct investment receiver — followed by Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Bhutan, he said, adding that the trend of foreign direct investment revealed that more than 90 per cent of the foreign direct investment that has entered the country was equity investment, whereas less than three per cent entered under technology transfer, and equity and technology transfer combined.

Similarly, the small scale industry is the most favourite among foreign investors, as it has attracted some 72 per cent of the total FDI in 2006, and it increased to 78.87 per cent in 2010, whereas attraction towards large industry seems to the least.

"Large scale industries failed to attract foreign direct investment as it attracted some 11.5 per cent of the total FDI in 2006, which further declined to 8.96 per cent in 2010," Acharya added.

Sector wise, the manufacturing sector is the most favourite with foreign investors, followed by others sector that include energy, construction and mines. "Though foreign direct investment in manufacturing, services and agriculture is declining, investment in others sector has been increasing," he said.

On the occasion, vice chair of National Planning Commission (NPC) Deependra Bahadur Kshetry said that the government has been requesting development partners and investors to invest in agriculture, as it will not only propel economic growth but also check the outflow of unemployed youth.

ADB director-general reiterates commitment to support economic development

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will continue to work closely with the government of Nepal in helping to reduce poverty and promote inclusive growth for all Nepalis, said director-general of ADB’s South Asia department Juan Miranda at the end of his two-day visit to Nepal here today.
Miranda said that he has been following developments in Nepal with keen interest.
“ADB appreciates that Nepal has maintained steady economic growth and macroeconomic stability despite challenging conditions,” he said, stressing the importance of staying the course on economic reforms and development to address poverty and other development challenges as well as achieve higher economic growth.
During Nepal visit Miranda met with finance minister, vice-chair and members of the National Planning Commission (NPC), chief secretary, other senior government officials, development partners, private sector representatives, and the media.
His discussions focused on the need for addressing infrastructure bottlenecks with accelerated development project implementation and private sector investments, and building stronger capacities, governance systems, and enabling environment to support these ends.  
He sought the government’s support and active participation by all stakeholders in the formulation of ADB’s new Country Partnership Strategy for Nepal.  In this context it was agreed that ADB’s support would be more selective and focused addressing the country’s development constraints including energy, transport, urban and rural infrastructure, and skills development. In support of these priorities, ADB will also promote governance, private sector development, regional integration, gender and social inclusion, and climate change adaption.
Miranda also discussed the Melamchi Water Supply Project. “We had a productive discussion with the Ministry of Urban Development on the specific actions to move forward, including the smooth settlement with the outgoing contractor, and swift selection of an internationally reputed, committed and dedicated contractor who can deliver high quality infrastructure in a timely and efficient way,” he said, adding that ADB remains fully committed to providing the necessary support to the government to ensure that the project is completed by early 2016 or earlier, given the importance of the project to alleviating acute water supply shortages for the 2.6 million people in the Kathmandu Valley.
Miranda also discussed the country’s critical energy shortages and reiterated ADB’s commitment to supporting the Government in resolving the issue.
In meetings with the secretaries of the Ministries of Energy and Finance, he discussed the proposed 140MW Tanahu Hydropower Project, which is at an advanced stage of preparation. Discussion focused on the financing structure, and the need and steps to engage highly qualified construction supervisors and contractors to achieve timely construction of this critical infrastructure.      
During his meetings with development partners and private sector representatives, Miranda discussed the current situation in Nepal and highlighted the importance of closer collaboration between development partners and private investors in helping the government create a conducive environment for development.
ADB has worked in partnership with the government of Nepal since the country joined ADB as a founding member in 1966. As of 31 August 2012, Nepal has received 158 loans/grants —122 sovereign Asian Development Fund (ADF) loans ($2,775.88 million), 5 non-sovereign loans ($58.64 million), and 31 ADF grants ($742.25 million) - totaling $3,576.77 million in support.