Climate-Smart Agroforestry for Sustainable Landscapes and Agri-Food Systems’ Transformation in Nepal

Increasing demand for food and non-food products by a growing population accompanied by shrinking area of agricultural land—with 17% abandoned or underutilized—has challenged sustainable agricultural development in Nepal. Yet agriculture, which occupies 24.2% of the land area, contributes 23.9% to GDP, engaging two-thirds of the population. Agricultural practices often combine forestry activities across landscapes, forming agroforestry systems. Application of an innovative, climate-smart agroforestry (CSAF) approach to agricultural landscapes can produce a wide range of ecosystem goods and services. A wide range of policy instruments have made clear provisions for utilizing abandoned and marginal land through agroforestry practices that contribute to climate and livelihood goals. However, abandonment of agricultural land is ever-increasing owing to low productivity, out-migration and lack of labor, off-farm income sources and enhanced purchasing power, unscientific land management policies, rugged terrain and harsh climatic conditions, invasive plants and land fragmentation. We recommend policy and institutional reforms through the development of a national roadmap based on a nexus approach to support land-sector policies and priorities, such as strengthening climate and agricultural information services; conservation and sustainable use of agrobiodiversity through site-specific crops in CSAF; development of value chains of CSAF products in partnership with the larger private sector; subsidies and safety nets for resource-poor smallholding and marginalized farmers; building capacity in CSAF technologies and practices; provision of infrastructure and other facilities for commercial CSAF; establishing CSAF as wildlife corridors; and research into the full set of ecosystem services, including carbon and ecotourism, provided by CSAF. This will not only support the agri-food sector but also contribute to climate, livelihood and development goals. This chapter presents the authors’ perspectives on the key challenges facing the agricultural sector and, particularly, the agroforestry sub-sector, and recommends ways for maximizing economic, social and environmental benefits from a CSAF approach.

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DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-91717-2_21

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