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Rural poverty approaches, policies and strategies in Nepal

The government's Agricultural Perspective Plan (APP), introduced in 1997, emphasizes the potential for poverty reduction through rapid growth in the agricultural sector. The APP strategy focuses on the production of basic food crops (such as rice, wheat, maize and potatoes) in the Terai and high-value horticultural crops (such as honey and silk) to boost household incomes in the hills and mountains. It also acknowledges the need to improve conditions for private trade.
 
Government spending on social sectors such as education, health, water supply and local development has increased since the mid 1990s. Nepal 's Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) is a commitment to reduce the incidence of poverty from about 40 to 30 per cent by 2007. It acknowledges that the causes underlying the situation of internal unrest in the past decade include poverty, social inequality and the lack of infrastructure and access to social services for rural communities and marginalized groups. Current strategy is based on four main goals:

• promote faster economic growth
• promote equitable access to social and economic infrastructure and resources for the poor
• overcome social marginalization
  
• improve governance
  

Government strategy focuses on involving the private sector and NGOs, as well as international NGOs and community-based organizations, in development activities to the fullest extent possible, and on devolving responsibilities to local bodies and community groups. Following the success of the IFAD-supported Hills Leasehold Forestry and Forage Development Project begun in 1991, leasehold forestry is now one of the priorities of the country's PRSP.

Source: IFAD