Nepal
Total IDRC Support
199 activities worth CAD44 million since 1972
Our support is helping
- reduce vulnerability to Japanese encephalitis transmission in high-risk districts
- improve sustainable terrace agriculture, where terrace walls comprise 20–50% of hillside surface areas
- increase small millet production across Nepal, India, and Sri Lanka to improve nutrition
- strengthen high-quality, influential, and policy-relevant research
- manage climate change in the Himalayan region, where 210 million mountain people and 1.3 billion others depend on its water resources
We’ve supported research in Nepal since 1972. As a result, local researchers have helped improve farmers’ livelihoods, enhance the quality of several crops, and control the spread of disease in Kathmandu.
In 1988, when the building of a dam flooded homes and farmland in Kulekhani, researchers from Nepal’s Agricultural Research Council introduced cage aquaculture to displaced farmers. Fish cage culture provided higher incomes than farming, and allowed families to invest in their children’s education, better housing, and stronger businesses.
Plant breeding research in the 1980s and 1990s led to more productive cereals, such as finger millet and barley. Other efforts have strengthened farmers’ ability to conserve the genetic diversity of their traditional crops. An improved rice variety — developed collaboratively by farmers and researchers — was introduced in July 2006.
A healthier environment in Kathmandu
For a decade, our research focus has supported Kathmandu’s environment and the health of its residents. Local researchers collaborate with residents and local authorities to reduce food- and water-borne diseases that spread from animals to humans.
The research led to the country’s first Animal Slaughtering and Meat Inspection Act. It also strengthened food and garbage disposal regulations, and improved delivery of basic services such as potable water and sanitation. Researchers involved marginalized groups, such as women street-sweepers, in building healthier neighbourhoods.
Farming in the Hindu-Kush Himalayas
Since 1992, we’ve supported the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, based in Nepal. Research teams investigated degradation in the Hindu Kush-Himalayas, and contributed to their rehabilitation. The Centre also improved rural livelihoods. Research demonstrated, for example, the benefits of producing off-season vegetables and high-yielding crops, as well as fish farming.
Nepal’s mountain people are part of a 16-country effort to evaluate and share innovations in agricultural production, processing, and commercialization. Our collaboration with the International Fund for Agricultural Development is building a network of evaluators linked by technology.