Feed the Future works in 25 districts, including in the Lumbini, Karnali and Sudurpaschim Provinces, and in four earthquake-affected districts in the Bagmati Province.
Annual GDP growth; agriculture accounts for 24.3 percent of added value (World Bank, 2019)
Percentage of population living in rural Nepal (World Bank, 2019)
Percentage of stunted children under the age of 5 in Feed the Future target regions (FTF ZOI Survey, 2019)
Percentage of people living in poverty in Feed the Future target regions in 2014 (FTF ZOI Survey, 2019)
Number of people living in Feed the Future target regions (FTF ZOI Survey, 2019)
Producers using new technologies and practices with Feed the Future’s help in FY20
Annual agricultural sales generated by Nepali farms and firms reached by Feed the Future in FY20
Children under 5 reached with nutrition help in FY20
Increase in the prevalence of children under the age of 2 receiving a minimum acceptable diet in Nepal since 2011
Despite Nepal’s agricultural potential, more than half of Nepali households suffer from food insecurity. The prevalence of stunting for Nepal stands at 36 percent nationally, and 47 percent of children under 5 are stunted in Feed the Future target regions. Feed the Future works with private sector partners and the government of Nepal to help men, women, youth and marginalized group members transform from subsistence farmers into more resilient and prosperous participants in Nepal’s food system, from farm to table. Feed the Future integrates agriculture and nutrition investments to enhance cognitive and physical development, increase economic productivity, strengthen resilience and advance global development. For more information, please view the Nutrition Priority Countries.
The underlying causes of hunger, poverty and malnutrition in Nepal include low agricultural productivity, weak market connections and coordination, poor infrastructure and inadequate government resources. Gender, ethnicity and caste relationships also play an important role in food security as a majority of women and many marginalized group members (who often do not have access to their own land, cash or other assets) work in agriculture.
Despite these difficulties, there are many opportunities for agriculture-led growth in Nepal. Feed the Future emphasizes a multi-sector approach to developing market systems in Nepal, with an emphasis on greater private sector engagement.
Efforts include partnering with over 100 private companies to leverage their own investments and expertise. Through these partnerships, the private sector extends its reach to rural areas to: provide services like agricultural training; increase access to better inputs and technologies, such as improved seed varieties and agricultural equipment; and directly connect farmers to markets.
Feed the Future uses a market-led approach, in which it works with market actors — from farmers to salespeople — to strengthen business relationships and increase access to quality agricultural products. This approach has generated significant yield increases in Nepal for rice (51 percent), maize (106 percent), lentils (96 percent) and vegetables (177 percent) from 2018 to 2020.
In 2020, Feed the Future helped farmers and private sector firms access over $53.8 million in agriculture related financing to expand production systems and businesses.
By addressing health and nutrition challenges, Feed the Future aims to improve the nutrition of pregnant and lactating women and children under 2 years old. Feed the Future helps improve their access to and consumption of diverse, nutritious foods by encouraging kitchen gardening and backyard poultry farming. When coupled with training on nutrition and hygiene and sanitation, these activities can drastically improve the health of Nepali women, giving them the opportunity to become more economically and socially empowered.
These results reflect information from the U.S. Agency for International Development, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Peace Corps, reported into Feed the Future’s central monitoring system for fiscal year 2020 (FY20). Impact data for poverty statistics come from the 2015 Nepal Interim Assessment Report, originally collected through the Nepal Annual Household Survey in 2013-2014 (poverty), and stunting and food security data come from the Nepal Demographic and Health Survey 2016. For more information on the indicators above, please view the Feed the Future Indicator Handbook. All dollar amounts are in U.S. dollars.
Feed the Future supports the following programs, partnerships and organizations in Nepal.
November 29, 2018
April 20, 2017
May 19, 2015
November 2017
“We could not afford the machinery needed to chop hay and straw on our own [...] Thanks to the support from the cooperative, my workload has now decreased and my livestock receives nutritious feed.”
Radhika Bolakhe, Patikhoriya Cooperative
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