ForestAction Nepal as a secretariat of the Alliance of Agriculture for Food (AAF) in collaboration with Martin Chautari organized a panel discussion entitled ‘why should anyone farm?/कोही किन खेती गरोस् ? on 20th April 2025. The discussion was moderated by Teeka Bhattarai (an educationist). The panelists include Mr. Uddhav Adhikari (Coordinator of AAF), Dr. Krishna Paudel (Agriculture expert) and Dr. Sujata Tamang (Researcher, women in Agriculture).
The major highlights of the discussion are:
– The primary purpose of farming has shifted from feeding ourselves to only earning income which has led to an increased use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and hormones. Farming should prioritize consume first, followed income generation and employment for farmers.
– Chemical-free farming/nature-based farming is both productive and possible, provided that policies, programs and priorities are reoriented to support such practices.
– Agroecological farming practices are emerging as vital alternatives to address the ongoing crisis in human health, soil degradation, biodiversity loss and environmental challenges.
– There are several factors contributing on farmers being demotivated to farming. These include unequal distribution of land, farming as less respectful profession, low income compared to the investments, loss of biodiversity and seeds, unpredictable weather and climate impacts are some of them. Among the farmers, marginal farmers including landless and women farmers are struggling to make their livelihoods out of farming and going through other additional challenges based on cultural and structural practices.
– Current agriculture policies and programs are not aligned with nature-based and agroecological system rather it focuses on modernization, mechanization and industrialization.
– Marginal farmers face added challenges under the farming system focused on modernization, mechanization and industrialization, which often rely on chemicals, pesticides and terminated seeds which is not viable in our context.
– Farmer’s participation especially of those engaged as laborers in the farming, is lacking in the policy and program formulation process. As a result their needs and voices cannot be adequately responded or addressed by the content of the policies.
Youtube Link: Click here for the event video