Second Crop Diversification Project

Closed

The government's overall objective in the National Agriculture Policy is to make the nation self-sufficient in food and ensure a dependable food security system by increasing production of all crops, including HVCs. In the National Strategy for Accelerated Poverty Reduction II, the government gives highest priority to the development of the agriculture sector in addressing and rapidly reducing poverty, and reaffirms its commitment to make the country self-sufficient in food by 2013. The strategy outlines medium-term policies and strategies to foster agriculture sector growth that include (i) increasing crop yield, (ii) providing broad-based policy support, (iii) diversifying into HVCs, (iv) intensifying agricultural research and technology generation, (v) disseminating technology among farmers, (vi) revamping the agricultural marketing system, (vii) promoting agroprocessing activities, (viii) adopting climate change adaptive technologies, and (ix) undertaking irrigation schemes and flood protection measures. The Second Crop Diversification Project directly supports government policy on food security and agriculture sector growth, particularly for the following intervention areas prioritized in the National Food Policy Plan of Action: (i) agricultural marketing and trade (reducing marketing costs of agricultural products and strengthening value-chain integration), (ii) agricultural diversification into HVCs and a focus on involving women, (iii) agricultural credit (increasing formal credit to agriculture, especially to marginal, small, and medium farmers), and (iv) market infrastructure development.