Stakeholders showed commitment in research on community forestry and agro-forestry of Nepal
May 13, Kathmandu: An inception workshop of research project on “Enhancing livelihoods and food security from agro-forestry and community forestry in Nepal” is concluded today.
The two-day national workshop was organized to build consensus among the stakeholders on the research activities and sites. Following the national inception workshop, the district level stakeholder consultation will be held on two primary research project sites on 14th and 15th May in Kavre Palanchowk and Lamjung districts respectively. The five-year research project is funded by Australian Centre for International Agriculture Research (ACIAR).
Addressing the workshop, His Excellency The Ambassador of Australia, Glenn White expressed that there has always been good partnership between Australia and Nepal especially in the forestry sector in past and no doubt this new episode will continue on the same way. ” ACIAR has good experience in this kind of project and I wish for the success of the project”, his Excellency added.
The two-day national workshop was organized to build consensus among the stakeholders on the research activities and sites. Following the national inception workshop, the district level stakeholder consultation will be held on two primary research project sites on 14th and 15th May in Kavre Palanchowk and Lamjung districts respectively. The five-year research project is funded by Australian Centre for International Agriculture Research (ACIAR).
Addressing the workshop, His Excellency The Ambassador of Australia, Glenn White expressed that there has always been good partnership between Australia and Nepal especially in the forestry sector in past and no doubt this new episode will continue on the same way. ” ACIAR has good experience in this kind of project and I wish for the success of the project”, his Excellency added.
The workshop was inaugurated yesterday by the Secretary of Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation Dr. Krishna Chandra Poudel who express gratitude to the Australian government for re-starting the support on forestry sector of Nepal on his inaugural remarks. “It is timely and necessary project for Nepal and will support the ‘Forestry for Prosperity’ vision by enhancing two pillars; livelihoods and food security”, said Dr. Poudel. “It is meaningful project for nature, people and all partners “, he added.
Mr. Tony Bartlett from ACIAR, Dr. Ian Nuberg from University of Adelaide, Dr. Krishna Shrestha from University of New South Wales, Dr. Yam Malla, Country Representative of IUCN Nepal and other international researchers also expressed their opinions in the interactive workshop.
The project will conduct its primary research activity in two Middle Hills districts: Kavre Palanchok and Lamjung but will also conduct satellite research in Sindhu Palchok and Kaski districts. The primary and satellite research sites will involve about 1200 farming households and 48 CFUGs.
The project will be focused on three domains; community forestry, agro-forestry and underutilized/abandoned agriculture land. The project proposal draws on a scoping study and project planning workshop conducted in 2012 on research needs to enhance livelihoods and food security from agro-forestry and community forestry systems in Nepal. The scoping study included intense consultations with relevant stakeholders as well as field visits. The analysis indicated that there are factors that impede the ability of community forestry and agro-forestry systems to provide adequate livelihoods are complex and are situated in social, cultural, political, ecological and economic domains. Some of the critical factors include: low productivity, sub-optimum management of community forests, persistent inequity and marginalization of community members, limited marketing opportunities and centralized planning and service delivery.
The main aim of the project is to enhance livelihoods and food security from improved implementation of agroforestry and community forestry systems in the Middle hills of Nepal. This research project forges collaboration between national and international partners who have been working actively in these areas. University of Adelaide, University of New South Wales, World Agroforestry Centre, IUCN Nepal, Department of Forests - Community Forest Division, Nepal Agroforestry Foundation, ForestAction Nepal, Search Nepal, Tribhuvan University - Institute of Forestry and Federation of Community Forest Users Nepal are the main partners of the project. The project will be led by University of Adelaide and supported by University of New South Wales. IUCN will coordinate the project activities in national level and ForestAction in field level.
The project will be managed in a participatory way; site level action research will be conducted with the participation of Community Forest User Groups (CFUGs) and individual farm household. In each step and around each site CFUGs and farmer groups will be participating in meetings and discussion for planning, implementing, reflecting of the research activities. Dissemination of project achievements will occur primarily through participating CFUG leaders sharing the progress and result at different levels of the FECOFUN meetings.
For more information, please contact:
Amit Poudyal
Communications Officer
IUCN Nepal
9851031213
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