| Abstract |
The Feed the Future Nepal Seed and Fertilizer (NSAF) project was awarded to the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) by the United States Agency for International Development in Nepal (USAID Nepal). The project began on 1 April 2016 and will run for five years until 31 March 2021. It is designed to contribute to Feed the Future’s goal of sustainably reducing global poverty and hunger by aligning with the Feed the Future Nepal multi-year strategy (2011–2017) and USAID’s Country Development Cooperation Strategy for Nepal (2014–2019). The project aims to strengthen the country’s seed and fertilizer systems by: enhancing the capacity and role of public, private and community sectors in the seed and fertilizer value chains through the provision of technical and business development services; improving private sector access to inbred lines and research knowledge from national and international research institutions; and enhancing public-private partnerships and coordination by establishing a tripartite research forum and a seed and fertilizer information system at the national level. The project is being implemented in collaboration with a number of public and private sector actors including the Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC), the Department of Agriculture (DoA), the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC), the Center for Environment and Agricultural Policy Research, Extension and Development (CEAPRED), Quantitative Engineering Design (QED), agro-input companies, and other in-country Feed the Future initiatives. The project is working on rice, maize, lentils, onions, cauliflower, and tomatoes in the following 26 districts which comprise the 21 districts in Feed the Future’s Zone of Influence and the 5 earthquake-affected districts from Province 3 (note that Rukum was split into Rukum East and Rukum West after the project started): Province 7: 6 districts, 4 hill, 2 Tarai (Achham, Baitadi, Dadeldhura, Doti, Kailali and Kanchanpur). Province 6: 5 hills districts (Dailekh, Jajarkot, Salyan, West Rukum and Surkhet). Province 5: 10 districts, 6 hill, 4 Tarai (Arghakhanchi, Gulmi, Palpa, Pyuthan, Rolpa, East Rukum, Kapilvastu, Banke, Bardiya and Dang). Province 3: 5 earthquake-affected hill districts (Sindhuli, Kavre, Makwanpur, Nuwakot and Sindhupalchowk). The project also benefits most of Nepal’s other districts by strengthening the policy environment and the nationwide value chain. The project has 16 outcomes (see Results Framework at Annex 1). Nine outcomes come under the seed value chain (the Seed Component), which is aimed at sustainably enhancing access to elite and adapted seeds of rice, maize, lentils and high-value vegetables by systematically deploying suitable varieties, enhancing the production of quality seed of such varieties, and supplying those seeds to farming communities through efficient distribution and marketing networks. The other seven objectives come under the Fertilizer Component, which aims to sustainably catalyze the adoption of integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) practices at scale through value chain approaches that integrate innovation with market development and entrepreneurship strengthening. These outcomes are aligned with USAID’s Nepal Country Development Cooperation Strategy. This report is the semi-annual technical progress report of the NSAF project for the October 2017 to March 2018 period. The report describes the activities completed in relation to the work plan and assesses progress relative to performance indicator targets. It also analyses issues and problems encountered during project implementation. Following this introduction, Chapter 2 summarizes the main strategic developments in the reporting period. Chapter 3 summarizes the main technical progress while Chapter 4 is an in-depth writeup on the progress against the project’s 3 intermediate and 16 sub-intermediate results. Chapter 5 gives the progress on the cross-cutting areas including monitoring and evaluation, communication and project management. Chapters 6 and 7 describe the management issues and the planned activities in the second half of its year 2 (2017/18). |
ICAR Research Data Repository for Knowledge Management