Finance Minister stresses on alleviating poverty through green economy

KATHMANDU, April 25: Adoption of technology and implementation of new policies has been highlighted for making the “Make Nepal Green” movement effective. The Make Nepal Green movement builds on the inter-linkages of the different developmental goals to attain the SDGs.

The movement is implemented by SAPPROS-Nepal, a social organization, which focuses on working towards the attainment of the SDGs through the implementation of the consortium of organic agriculture, renewable energy, IT, and eco-tourism.

The participants of a follow-up conference of “Make Nepal Green” movement organized by SAPPROS-Nepal here today underscored promoting organic agriculture, renewable energy, information technology and eco-tourism for attaining the goals of the movement.

Inaugurating the conference, Finance Minister Dr Yubaraj Khatiwada said the government has laid emphasis on poverty alleviation, increasing the agricultural production and reducing the problem of climate change effects by means of green economy.

He said promotion of ordinary, affordable and user-friendly technology helps in employment generation and increasing the productivity, thereby in attaining the goal of prosperity.

The Finance Minister also stressed on the need of mobilizing the available resources on building a green economy in the context of the local, provincial and federal governments focusing on the development of the country after the implementation of the constitution.

President of SAPPROS-Nepal Shree Krishna Upadhayay said the conference has been organized to follow up on the progress of grassroots implementation, and results of ‘Make Nepal Green’, to assess and discuss the new policy interventions for the movement and to expand the network of organizations working on the implementation of ‘ Make Nepal Green’.

UN Resident Coordinator for Nepal, Valerie Julliand said that the ‘Make Nepal Green’ program could be taken ahead in synchrony with the SDGs and as per the international standards.

Chairman of the Sana Kisan Bikas Bank Limited, Khem Bahadur Pathak, said that technology and investment would be taken ahead in tandem as the investment made through the cooperatives was found to be very effective for the benefit of the farmers.

Economist Dr Binayak Bhadra, presenting a paper on the economic aspect of renewable energy, said the use of customary and bio fuel would be gradually declining with the increasing use of renewable energy for cooking and transport purposes spurred by the fall in the cost of renewable energy technologies in the recent times.

The conference will deliberate on topics like combatting hunger, securing food security, empowerment of women and youth, attaining the SDGs, promotion of ecotourism, renewable energy and use of IT for poverty reduction, among other issues.

As many as 200 people are participating in the conference that will conclude tomorrow.

Of the districts impacted by the earthquke of 2015, SAPPROS-Nepal has bene implementing the ‘Make Nepal Green’ concept in Gorkha, Nuwakot, Sindhupalchok, Lamjung and Tanahun districts.

The concept and project envisions the utilization of IT systems to promote the organic agriculture produce and geographic locations of production. The utilization of the It systems for the stated purpose is expected to result in access to market –from production floor to market – and bringing of market to produce – eco-tourism – for the producers. Make Nepal Green utilizes renewable energy to provide the resources for agriculture and daily use. RSS