Nepal Infrastructure 
KATHMANDU: In pursuit of advancing the benefits for the coffee sector through the promotion of agroforestry practices, a stakeholder workshop was convened in Lalitpur on Thursday. The primary objective of the workshop was to explore existing practices and avenues for promoting an agroforestry approach within the coffee sector, with a specific focus on fostering coffee production.
The workshop served as a platform to gather insights, opinions, and views from diverse stakeholders representing both governmental and private sectors. These insights are deemed crucial for reframing the policy and encouraging further initiatives to foster the sustainable commercialization of coffee cultivation, leveraging locally available forested areas and resources.
As part of its ongoing efforts to strengthen the coffee value chain, with a particular emphasis on empowering local farmers, the European Union’s Trade and Investment Programme (TIP), implemented through the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, and Supplies (MoICS), shared valuable information regarding agroforestry practices in key coffee-producing regions.
Recently, a team comprising coffee experts and officials from stakeholder agencies, including the National Tea and Coffee Development Board (NTCDB), Nepal Agriculture Research Council (NARC), and Nepal Coffee Federation (NCF), EU TIP/ International Trade Centre, French Agriculture Research and International Cooperation Organization (CIRAD) conducted field visits to coffee-producing districts in Bagamati Province, namely: Nuwakot, Lalitpur, Kavre, and Sindhupalchowk. The team engaged with local elected representatives, farmers, and coffee cooperatives, fostering knowledge exchange, and insights into the sustainable utilization of agroforests to augment coffee production in Nepal.
During the workshop, representatives from, MOICS, the Ministry of Forest and Environment, the National Planning Commission, the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, the Department of Agriculture, the Plant Quarantine and Pesticide Management Office, the European Union Embassy in Nepal, NTCDB, NCF, Central Coffee Cooperative Union, coffee farmers, and agroforestry experts underscored the significance of adopting an agroforestry approach in coffee cultivation to spur production and facilitate exports.
They also emphasized the imperative of creating an enabling environment to attract more farmers to engage in agroforestry, thereby enabling income generation at the grassroots level with food security and risk management insurance. Coffee experts Dr. Badri Prasad Bastakoti, Audrey Gavard-Lonchey, Dr. Clement Rigal, and Jit Narayan Chaudhari provided insights into the current status of agroforestry in Nepal and expounded on the potential application of this approach to coffee cultivation, highlighting its economic benefits drawing experiences from international coffee research.
The stakeholders also acknowledged that agroforestry serves as a dynamic, ecologically sound natural resource management system, fostering diversification and sustainability in production, thereby yielding social, economic, and environmental benefits for land users across all strata.
Lila Dhar Adhikari, Under Secretary at the MoICS emphasized the need to promote coffee production improving quality as well as sustainability for increased income opportunities in the rural areas for women and youth fostering partnership between the Government, Private sector, farmers’ groups, and Development partners. Adhikari also thanked the EU for its financial support through TIP to promote productivity and value chain development of coffee in Nepal
The National Agroforestry Policy 2019 serves as a pivotal sectoral policy document at the national level that envisions contributing to national prosperity through the development, expansion, and commercialization of agroforestry systems. The policy emphasizes increasing the production of agricultural, livestock, and forest products by increasing the productivity of the land and multipurpose use of the land. Nepal’s Periodic Plans also underscore the imperative of commercializing organic coffee cultivation as a means to enhance rural livelihoods, foster employment opportunities, drive sustainable and inclusive economic development, and alleviate poverty among the most vulnerable segments of society.
