Agriculture to prop up post-pandemic economy

Our economic growth and development activities will be pushed back by at least a year or more due to this COVID-19 pandemic. The market is mostly shut, institutions are closed, and daily economic activities have gone down sharply. The tourism industry is another sector that is severely impacted by the ongoing situation. Despite gloomy circumstances, the situation could be taken as an opportunity to promote agriculture if handled properly. This crisis has taught people how important agriculture is, and could be a great opportunity for Nepal to promote agriculture for sustainable development. There is an increasing interest among youths working abroad to return to their country and get involved in agribusiness. Therefore, if the government could bring attractive policies regarding agriculture it could tempt youths to stay in Nepal and engage in agriculture This will not only boost our economy but would also keep the young labor force in the country.

About 66% of people are dependent on agriculture which contributes roughly 33% to the country’s GDP (The World Bank). Apart from agriculture, remittance remain the backbone of the country's economy, with Nepalis abroad sending home cash around 30% of the country's GDP. Nepal is the 19 th most remittance dependent country in the world (The World Bank, 2019) Due to this pandemic, many of these workers have lost their jobs and want to return to Nepal. This could mean an increasing number of people getting involved in agriculture. Hence, an improvement in technology and improvement in our agricultural system could see a huge boost in production and our overall economy.