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Nepal

Food System Steering Committee

Nepal's Food System Steering Committee is convened by the National Planning Commission to mobilise multisectoral effort behind the national pathway for food system transformation. It brings state and non-state actors together for discussion and proposals rather than binding decisions.

Institutional set-up and structure

Established in 2021, the Committee is a federal-level structure convened by the National Planning Commission, with representatives from different levels of government. Local governments have the option to convene their own meetings. Membership spans thirteen ministries alongside development partners, business and industry federations, non-governmental organisation federations, rural municipality and agricultural network representatives, civil society and academia.

Mandate and decision-making power

The Committee is the institutional mechanism for mobilising multisectoral and multi-stakeholder effort and facilitating implementation of the national pathway for food system transformation, providing coordination across levels of government and between state and non-state actors. Its tasks include formulating, implementing and reviewing the policies, plans and programmes needed to make the food system resilient, sustainable and inclusive, and organising annual national and regional programmes.

The Committee is tasked with the following roles (building blocks):

  • Agenda setting: advocacy and dialogue; deciding on goals and strategic priorities

  • Policy formulation and decision making: providing technical advice; coordinating policy development; developing policies for consideration by the relevant authorities

Who is involved

  • Government: agriculture and rural development; industry; health and population; education, science and technology; water supply; home affairs; labour and social security; forests and environment; federal affairs; energy and irrigation; land management and cooperatives; alongside the National Planning Commission

  • Development partners: United Nations representatives and development partners working on the food system

  • Private sector: agribusiness centres and the federation of industry and commerce

  • Civil society: national and international non-governmental organisation federations, and the federation of rural municipalities

  • Academia: and other experts working on food systems

How it works in practice

  • Meetings have typically been held two to three times a year, convened as needs arise

  • Discussion rather than decision is the norm, with proposals developed for later adoption

  • Participating actors implement their own policies and programmes; follow-through is not systematically tracked

  • Meeting minutes and reports are circulated to participants

Opportunities for improvement

  • Holding meetings online would allow remote communities and more distant stakeholders to take part

  • Widening participation to smaller civil society organisations would make the Committee more accessible

  • Moving from ad hoc to regular meetings, with tracking of actions agreed, would strengthen follow-through

Evidence base: key informant interviews and policy documents, 2026. Last updated: September 2026.

Strengths

  • Brings every category of stakeholder onto a single platform to work through issues together

  • Convened by the national planning body, giving it reach across sectors rather than from within one

  • Representation spans levels of government, with local governments able to convene locally

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