Exploring incentives to scale climate-resilient organic agricultural and agro-pastoralist practices in Karnali Province

About the event 

Led by the provincial Ministry of Land Management, Agriculture Cooperatives (MOLMAC), in collaboration with ICIMOD’s Himalayan Resilience Enabling Action Programme
(HI-REAP), this event will facilitate a high-level policy roundtable to explore innovative incentive mechanisms to strengthen Karnali’s path towards climate-resilient organic agriculture, incorporating innovative agroforestry and rangelands management innovations.

The programme will bring together representatives from 10 districts and feature field consultation in Jumla to explore how integrated forest, rangeland and agriculture policies can be harmonised to strengthen the organic vision of Karnali province.

The overall goal is to strengthen the implementation of the Karnali Province Organic Agriculture Act (2076) and the Karnali Agriculture Development Strategy (KADS) and Karnali Rangeland Strategy by co-developing innovative incentive framework that accelerates the adoption of nature-based practices and solutions. This event is supported by the United Kingdom International Development.

Objectives 

The specific objectives of the event are to:

• Discuss and co-design an innovative and tailored incentive mechanism to promote and scale climate-resilient organic agricultural practices, including repurposing harmful subsidies, supporting agroecology and enhancing high-value market chains.
• Integrate nature-based practices such as agroforestry innovations and agropastoral rangeland management into incentive frameworks of KADS.
• Generate practical policy recommendations on incentives that can be integrated into KADS’s implementation
• Explore successful agro-pastoral ecological practices from different agroecological zones, leveraging from community learning centres and farmers innovation and pastoralists knowledge.

Expected outputs

• Evidence based recommendations on incentive mechanisms to repurpose harmful subsidies and promotion of climate-resilient organic agriculture, integrating sustainable agro-pastoral system management.
• Enhanced policy alignment between agriculture and environmental, forest sectors under KADS and the rangeland policy
• A shared provincial roadmap for aligning incentives to scaling Karnali’s nature-based agricultural and agroforestry and agro-pastoral systems transformation.

Background

Since 2018, Karnali Province has pursued a bold vision to transition into a fully organic province under the Karnali Province Organic Agriculture Act (2076). In parallel, the province hosts some of Nepal’s most ecologically significant high-altitude rangelands vital for agro-pastoral livelihoods, biodiversity and ecosystem management. In the past, ICIMOD, through its Building Resilience of Agroecosystems and Community Empowerment (BRACE) initiative, has supported agroecological and climate-resilient farming, leveraging digital advisory services, action research, and knowledge co-creation. Additionally, the ongoing HI-REAP project contributed to the development of the Karnali Rangeland Strategy, where agro-pastoralist issues and innovations are discussed.

Agroecological farming in Karnali integrates traditional knowledge, ecosystem functioning, and locally available resources, minimising reliance on chemical fertilisers and external inputs. Practices such as vermicompost, trichocompost, biochar, urine- and dung-based fertilisers, green manures, crop rotation, and herb-based pest repellents are demonstrated across community learning centres.

By linking organic agriculture and sustainable agroforestry and rangeland management together, this initiative aims to foster a shared provincial strategy that addresses both environmental concerns and livelihood challenges of farming communities.