Modernization of Rani Jamara Kulariya Irrigation Project - Phase 3

About this project

Agriculture is central to Nepal's economy and integral to poverty reduction. It accounted for over 60 percent of employment and nearly 24 percent of GDP in 2022. But the productivity and level of income from agriculture remain below potential because of underinvestment in critical enablers, such as irrigation services, agriculture value chains, and watershed services. Therefore, this project contributes to addressing constraints to agricultural productivity while also building the resilience of the sector to climate extremes. Nepal is rich in water resources but only uses about 10 percent of it for productive purposes due to inadequate infrastructure. Nepal has a total of 2.53 million ha of irrigable arable land, of which 62 percent is irrigated, and less than 40 percent has access to year-round irrigation, leaving the agricultural sector unproductive and highly exposed to rainfall variability. The result is persistent food insecurity (affecting over 12 percent of the population) and rising food imports (150 percent increase since 2014). The project is the last of three phases of a long-term government program that has been under implementation since 2012 to modernize the Rani Jamara Kulariya Irrigation scheme – the largest irrigation scheme in the western region of Nepal. The Bank supported both Rani Jamara Kulariya Irrigation Project (RJKIP) Phase 1 (2012-2017) and Phase 2 (2018-2025), which modernized irrigation infrastructure on 14,300 hectares, enhanced flood and erosio…

Published by

World Bank · Multilateral

Countries

Nepal

Sectors

Multi-hazard response preparednessAgricultural water resources

Places

Kathmandu

Funded by

International Development Association

Implemented by

Ministry of Energy Water Resources and Irrigation

Accountable

Nepal

Passes funds through

International Development Association

Published by World Bank to the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI), last updated 3 Oct 2026 and imported automatically. IATI identifier: 44000-P507433.

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