Continuous efforts to educate decision-makers at all levels on the nexus in Nepal

By Surendra Phuyal, Sanju Koirala, Darshan Karki, and Anuj Mishra

Experts and stakeholders working to ensure greater acceptance of the water-energy-food-ecosystems (WEFE) nexus approach in Nepal are calling for renewed efforts to get the WEFE nexus incorporated in government programs and policies. Such efforts, they stress, should include steps to educate more officials and elected representatives at all tiers of government: federal, provincial, and local.

This view came out strongly at a WEFE Nexus Community of Practice Meeting in Kathmandu on 23 October 2024, held by the CGIAR Initiative on NEXUS Gains. The participants included the first cohort of Community of Practice trainees, who graduated in December 2023. Since then they have been working to build leadership in WEFE sectors by incorporating nexus approaches, bolstered by gender equality and social inclusion (GESI), in their workplans and programs.

Nearly a year on, they say, challenges remain.

Rallying calls

"Unless [the WEFE nexus] is accepted by our lawmakers and policymakers, the ownership wouldn't be there," said Pradhyumna Raj Pandey, a senior agricultural economist at the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development. Pandey suggested further collaboration and dialogue between stakeholders to get Nepal's National Planning Commission on board.

Kapil Gnawali, a senior divisional hydrologist at the National Planning Commission, is already on board: he stressed the need for an umbrella policy to adopt the WEFE nexus approach. "That would make it easier for coordination. Moreover, we need to strengthen the concept of WEFE nexus, and for that to happen, continued advocacy is required."

Sruti Maya Kumal, Vice Chairperson of the Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (NEFIN), called for fresh efforts to incorporate the rights of Indigenous nationalities in policies. "Constitutional provisions are there but they are not included in our plans policies. For example, [Indigenous] communities too need to be taken on board, so that they can get all the benefits that they are entitled to."

Sovita Pariyar, representing Sarthak Nepal, underlined the need for continued collaboration between stakeholders for further dissemination of the development concepts and ideas envisioned by the nexus approach. "The concept needs to be better explained and disseminated," she said. "There are silos that need to be broken. We need more networking and coordination."

Sangita Shrestha, a senior agricultural engineer at the Department of Agriculture, called for efforts to nationally expand the WEFE nexus training she had undertaken. "We need more champions who are empowered like me. Involvement in IWMI [International Water Management Institute] Nepal's Solar Lift Project was an achievement. The WEFE Nexus Master's course has already started [at Tribhuvan University]. But we still need to do more to expand the concept."

Going provincial in Sudurpaschim

Part of the answer lies at the provincial level of decision-making - where nexus learning is already under way. In September, IWMI, GREAT International, and Governance Lab held a sensitization workshop for WEFE sector professionals in Sudurpaschim Province. This put primary emphasis on the GESI aspects of nexus approaches - a path to developing people-centric policies, plans, and implementation around natural resources.

Provincial WEFE sector professionals, including 30 men and 19 women from the government, civil society organizations, and the private sector, attended. The topics of greatest interest included the unequal power relations and resource control that prevail among different social groups; the social equity framework; and the potential for transformational and feminist leadership in managing WEFE resources.

Bishnu Awasthi, a participant from the Forum for Local Development, stated, "I came to know about the linkages of water, forest, and land from a USAID project. Now, I realize that we should add energy, agriculture, and GESI while working on climate change, mitigation, and adaptation programs."

Laxmi KC, a participant from the Himalayan Grassroots Women's Natural Resource Management Association (HIMAWANTI), an NGO, shared, "I am facilitating a training program on natural resources and GESI; after participating in yesterday's workshop, I have asked my colleagues to invite the participants from the agriculture and energy sector to the training."

An engineer from the Water Resources Division, Kanchanpur, emphasized the need to invite political leaders to such workshops. "If the minister was also invited in the program, he would also understand the approach and it would be easier for mid-level employees to apply such approaches."

Start piloting

The provincial workshop's facilitator, GREAT International Chairperson Bharat Pokhrel, was also present at the Community of Practice Meeting in Kathmandu. There he expressed high hopes for further gender-responsive training at provincial and local levels. Prominent among these are activities soon to be launched in Sudurpaschim Province's Rangun Watershed by IWMI and the Oxfam project Transboundary Rivers of South Asia.

In Kathmandu, Nisha Onta from Governance Lab emphasized the need for a framework to take this effort forward at multiple scales simultaneously. She expected the Rangun Watershed project to serve as a good example that could amplify the concept nationwide.

"I'd like to encourage all of you too to start piloting," Onta told the Community of Practice gathering: "It would be great if you could also start looking at it from your lens."

Surendra Phuyal is Communications Consultant, IMWI Nepal; Sanju Koirala is Researcher - Social Science-Water and Natural Resources, IWMI; Darshan Karki is Researcher - Social Scientist, IWMI; Anuj Mishra is Research Officer - Socio-Technical Innovation, IWMI.

This work was carried out under the CGIAR Initiative on NEXUS Gains, which is grateful for the support of CGIAR Trust Fund contributors: www.cgiar.org/funders

Header image: Participants at the WEFE Nexus Community of Practice Launch meeting. Photo by Aayush Niroula/IWMI.

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