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Nepal 2026

INVESTMENT PROFILE
213.9 million
(in USD) Investment sought
22.9%
Internal rate of return
171.2 million
(in USD) Investment gap
SUSTAINABILITY BENEFITS
79,170
Direct beneficiaries
204
(in USD) Income increase per capita 
61.8 
tonnes GHG impact

The Hand-in-Hand Initiative is supporting the Government of Nepal in its efforts to transform agri-food systems, by enhancing food and nutrition security, promoting sustainability, bolster resilience, and fostering rural development.

With 28% of arable land contributing 24% to the GDP, and the agriculture sector accounting for 62% of employment, investments in the sector aim to empower communities for dignified and decent jobs with access to healthy diet for all. This, while mitigating carbon emissions, promoting adaptation, ensuring environmental sustainability and preserving biodiversity. 

The Government of Nepal has prioritized four commodities to accelerate agricultural transformation and sustainable rural development resulting in minimizing poverty and contributing to GDP: Large cardamom, Timur, Highland potato, Pangasius fish.

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Geospatial Typologies

Agro-informatics connects information technology with the management, analysis and application of agricultural data to indentify territories with untapped agrifood potential and design more accurate and targeted agrifood interventions. The use of new technologies and techniques in agriculture, such as satellite imagery, remote sensing, and geographic information systems, enable the transformation of data into actionable information.

POVERTY
POTENTIAL
EFFICIENCY
Poverty
Potential
Efficiency
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Investment cases in Nepal

Investment Cases and Interventions

Cardamom

Cardamom

INVESTMENT
USD 22.93M & USD 15.7M
INTERNAL RATE OF RETURN (%)
25.54% & 31%
NET PRESENT VALUE
USD 48.8M & USD 10.7M
DIRECT BENEFICIARIES
18,000
INDIRECT BENEFICIARIES
90,000
INCOME INCREASE PER CAPITA
263.14 USD/person
EMISSION REDUTION (EXACT)
-414.8258 TCO2-E

Grown in eastern hills, cardamom is an important non-perishable cash crop, with an annual production of around 8,000 metric tons. About 80% of this is exported to India, being the largest export commodity of Nepal. Given this, there are opportunities for investments to grow the crop on the hill areas in 14 target districts, as there are suitable agroclimatic conditions for its production, there is high potential market demand for pharmaceutical uses, as well as export potential. Investments are focused on value addition through processing into oil, oleoresin, powder, and drying and storage facilities. 

The required investment is of 22.9 million USD, with an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 25.54%, benefiting directly 18,000 households, while creating employment for more than one million producers, mostly women.
Pepper

Sichuan pepper

INVESTMENT
USD 31.6M & USD 2.07M
INTERNAL RATE OF RETURN (%)
31.7% and 36.9%
NET PRESENT VALUE
USD 35.4M and USD 2.4M
DIRECT BENEFICIARIES
25,000
INDIRECT BENEFICIARIES
125,000
INCOME INCREASE PER CAPITA
119.7 USD/person
EMISSION REDUTION (EXACT)
-86.350 TCO2-E

Nepal exports most of Timur pepper it produces annually, as demand from Europe (for Timur oil) and India run high. Currently, more than 20,000 farm holdings, as well as poorer populations, especially women, children and the unemployed, are involved in collecting the Timur fruit, while grazing cattle. Some farmers have already started planting it to rehabilitate degraded forest lands.

Investments target 4 districts for value addition (oil, powder), market diversification, and export enterprise, area expansion, improving post-harvest technologies and marketing, tissue culture, screen and net house facilities to produce quality planting material, and establishment of drying and storage facilities. 

The required investment is of 31.6 million USD, with an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 31.7%, benefiting directly 25,000 households. 
Potato

Highland potato

INVESTMENT
USD 8.37M
INTERNAL RATE OF RETURN (%)
37.27%
NET PRESENT VALUE
USD 10.57M
DIRECT BENEFICIARIES
6,720
INDIRECT BENEFICIARIES
33,600
INCOME INCREASE PER CAPITA
486 USD/person
EMISSION REDUTION (EXACT)
 -4,822.22 TCO2-E

Nepal has a national production of more than 3.3 million metric tons of potato, with more than 40% of the national farmers growing them. National potato consumption is around 90.2kg per capita and demand is fast growing. The country also imports large amount of potato and their by-products every year. Potato is more productive than rice and maize in the cool climate and yield gaps are currently high. 

As such, there are opportunities for import substitution from India and value addition such as chips, wine and fries, as well as export potential to neighboring countries such as India and Bangladesh.

Investments are focused on reducing post-harvest loss and value addition by installation of storage and processing facilities in 4 target districts, requiring an investment of 8.37 million USD, with an IRR of 37.27% and benefiting 6,720 households.
Fish

Pangasius fish

INVESTMENT
USD 12.16M
INTERNAL RATE OF RETURN (%)
19.15%
NET PRESENT VALUE
USD 31.10M
DIRECT BENEFICIARIES
750
INDIRECT BENEFICIARIES
3,750
INCOME INCREASE PER CAPITA
2,781.58 USD/person
EMISSION REDUTION (EXACT)
 -92.277 TCO2-E

With a 3.11 kg per capita consumption of fish, around 60% of national demand is imported. Therefore, an opportunity for import substation is being prioritized with investments focusing on technological adoption, infrastructure development and market expansion. Also, there are interventions for developing of feed industry and safeguarding food solutions from pond to plate. 

The required investment is of 12.16 million USD, with an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 19.09%, benefiting directly 750 households. 
Cheese

Yak cheese

INVESTMENT
USD 2.02M
INTERNAL RATE OF RETURN (%)
19.11%
NET PRESENT VALUE
USD 12M
DIRECT BENEFICIARIES
300
INDIRECT BENEFICIARIES
1,500
INCOME INCREASE PER CAPITA
182.66 USD/person
EMISSION REDUTION (EXACT)
 6,246 TCO2-E

Orange

Orange

INVESTMENT
USD 82.65M
INTERNAL RATE OF RETURN (%)
14.98%
NET PRESENT VALUE
USD 23.79M
DIRECT BENEFICIARIES
20,000
INDIRECT BENEFICIARIES
100,000
INCOME INCREASE PER CAPITA
93.17 USD/person
EMISSION REDUTION (EXACT)
 -71,602 TCO2-E

Ginger

Ginger

INVESTMENT
USD 33.06M
INTERNAL RATE OF RETURN (%)
23.5%
NET PRESENT VALUE
USD 10M
DIRECT BENEFICIARIES
8,400
INDIRECT BENEFICIARIES
42,000
INCOME INCREASE PER CAPITA
133 USD/person
EMISSION REDUTION (EXACT)
 -31,235 TCO2-E

Honey

Wild honey

INVESTMENT
USD 3.3M
INTERNAL RATE OF RETURN (%)
38.4%
NET PRESENT VALUE
USD 0.3M
DIRECT BENEFICIARIES
0
INDIRECT BENEFICIARIES
0
INCOME INCREASE PER CAPITA
0 USD/person
EMISSION REDUTION (EXACT)
 3,243 TCO2-E

Resources

FAO's Hand-in-Hand Initiative
21/12/2023

The Hand-in-Hand (HIH) Initiative supports the implementation of nationally led, ambitious programmes to accelerate agrifood systems transformations...

In the Media

Contacts

For more information, please contact the Hand-in-Hand team