4-H  Nepal, in collaboration with partners,  organized ‘The  Asian  Agriculture  Summit and Exhibition-2019’ at Hotel Himalaya, Lalitpur from August 11-13th, 2019. The short form of the Asian Agriculture Summit and Exhibition is AASE. The summit was organized with the motto to revitalize the Agri-youth entrepreneurship in Asia.

The Summit aims to promote sustainable agroecology through exchanging knowledge and experiences of youth agro-entrepreneurs and building networks for collective progress as well as provide valuable feedback and obtain support from academics and policymakers. Youths from various parts of the country converged in Kathmandu and showcased their experiences, innovations and visions; discussed the policy environment that encouraged them in entrepreneurship.

The summit helped to establish networks, platforms and mechanisms of youth entrepreneurs for the collective and collaborative endeavours to create a fostering environment for youths in agriculture. Some 100 participants attended the three-day summit. The summit consisted of a mixture of oral and poster sessions. It aimed to

promote interaction among participants, and communications such as experience sharing, networking among experts and stall exhibition.

Summit objectives

The objective of the conference was to bring youth entrepreneurs and policy-makers together in a common platform to discuss issues and challenges of youth participation in agriculture and enable the youth agro-entrepreneurial environment in Nepal.

The following are the major objectives of the summit:

• To bring Youths, Agro- agro-entrepreneurs, Experts, Stakeholders, Policy makers, Leading agriculturists and   Enthusiast participants together in a  platform,   for networking, experience sharing, paper presentation along discussion on thematic issues.
• To explore ways to foster youth agro entrepreneurship in Nepal.
• To re-energize the youth’s mind through motivational and brainstorming sessions.

The procedure of the summit

AASE will contribute to the cause of agricultural intervention and sustainable growth where youths will be at the forefront of change in the local communities and globally.  The goal of the Summit is to promote sustainable agro-economy through exchanging knowledge and experiences of youth agro-entrepreneurs, and building networks for “collective good” as well as provide valuable feedback to and obtain support from academics and policymakers. The summit will allow space to share products and ideas, build relationships and networks, and opportunities for cross-country public-private market exchange.

The following steps are taken for the preparation of the summit:

Consultation with organization

Proposal Development

Meeting with High-level advisor

High-level meeting with Ambassador

Committee Formed

Call for application

Call for papers

Call for volunteers

Program Formulation

Consultation with the organization:

The foremost step before preparing for the summit was consultation with the organization. There are different governmental organization that has supported The Asian Agriculture Summit and Exhibition directly and they are the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, the Ministry of Land Management Agriculture and Co-operative Province No. 3,  Kathmandu Metropolitan City, National Farmers Commission, Lalitpur Metropolitan City, Rastriya Badiya Bank, Nepal Tourism Board, FAO, and Khalti.

Proposal Development

Simply having a good idea isn’t enough to receive funding.  Good ideas become fundable once we have developed them into a comprehensive proposal.  The trick is putting your idea onto paper. A  concept paper can assist you in sculpting a comprehensive proposal.  Our concept paper is an outline of our project.  It provides the framework to guide discussions with potential partners, our Sponsored Programs Office, and funding agency program officers.

Meeting with High-level Political Advisor:

3. a. Honourable Dr Ram Baran Yadav, is the first President of Nepa During the meeting he shared his on agriculture during his presidency. He also talked about rules and policies made during his ownership. Moreover, he takes the Initiative to make Madeshi land self-reliant.
4. Honourable Sher Bahadur Deuba is a former prime minister of Nepal. In the meeting, he talked about farmer policy, agriculture issues and the major solutions to overcome those issues.
5. c. Honorable Purna Kuramri Subedi is the president of the Agriculture, Cooperatives and Natural Resources Committee under the House of Representatives Nepal. During the meeting, we discussed, agriculture-related bills and she also claimed that she would take incitation to pass those bills in New law.
6. Honorable Chakrapani Khanal is The Minister of Agricultural and Livestock Development He has claimed that organic and innovative projects are going to change the scenario of agriculture in Nepal. He also said, “Until and unless the country retains skilful youths in  Nepal,  the agriculture sector cannot be improved”.
7. e. Dr. Ram Sharan Mahat was the Finance Minister of Nepa In the meeting we talked about eco-agriculture. The meeting was very interactive therefore he also explained the policy and provided us with good advice.
8. 4. High-Level Meeting with Ambassador

9.   H.E. Deputy Ambassador of Qatar:

On 11th  June 2019 High-level meeting was held at the embassy of Kathmandu, Nepal. His cooperation and commitment to support The Asian Agriculture Summit & Expo 2019.

10.  H.E. Elisabeth Von Capeller:

H.E. Elisabeth Von Capeller is the Ambassador of Switzerland. An interactive meeting was held at the Embassy of Kathmandu, Nepal on 8th May 2019. During the meeting, we explored the opportunity for further cooperation between the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC AND 4-H Nepal.

11.  H.E. Benny Omer:

H.E. Benny Omer Ambassador of the Embassy of Israel. On 26th May 2019 at the embassy of Kathmandu Nepal, an interactive meeting was held with H.E. Benny Omer.

12. H.E. Mr Pertti Anttinen:

H.E. Mr Pertti an Ambassador of Finland held a meeting in Kathmandu, Nepal to discuss The Asian Agriculture Summit and Exhibition on 7th May 2019. During the meeting, we have explored the opportunity for further cooperation on the agriculture-related project and more between

13.   Ishrant Tahan Director, SAARC

The high-level meeting was held with Ishant Jahan the Director of SAARC Secretariat on 31st  May 2019. The meeting opens up the opportunity for further cooperation on the agriculture-related project and more between the SAARC secretariat and 4-H Nepal. Mr. Jahan has agreed to collaborate between 4-H Nepal and the SAARC Secretariat in the near future.

14. Dr Ajay Kumar, Deputy Chief of Mission at Embassy in India Kathmandu Nepal

On 9th May 2019 an interactive meeting with Dr. Ajay Kumar who is Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy in India Kathmandu Nepal. He is an Agro-scientist.

15. Utoomporn Ampaivit, Counselor of the Royal Thai Embassy in Nepal

Utoomporn Ampaivit is the Minister and Counselor of the Royal Thai Embassy in Nepal. 4H- Nepal had an interactive meeting with her on 26th  April 2019 at Kathmandu Nepal.

Participation

The conference brought together over 130 participants from different countries such as Ghana, China, The Philippines, The Gambia, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Iran, Nepal, India, the UK and Ireland.

Target audience

The audience for the summit will include government officials from the various related government departments and government-linked organizations, farmers, youth entrepreneurs, associations, agriculture industry representatives and food processors, Academics (e.g. universities, colleges and researchers), traders and retailers as well as officials and students from institutions of higher learning and representatives of non-government organizations around the world.