Business Case and Intervention Summary
Nepal: Rural Access Programme (RAP)
Intervention Summary
What support will the UK provide?
RAP will increase the economic opportunities available to the poorest and most vulnerable people in
seven of the remotest Districts in Nepal. Firstly, by providing employment for the poor maintaining rural
roads and constructing economic infrastructure. Secondly, by developing agricultural and other small
businesses to put in place the foundations for sustainable economic growth in the area.
The £36.5 million RAP programme will last for 4 years and will consist of 5 components:
1) Maintenance and upgrading of roads, £18.7m - to sustain and improve existing roads, trails and
2)
3)
4)
5)
bridges;
Economic Infrastructure, £7.35m – Trails, trail bridges, markets, irrigation and other investments
to stimulate economic activity;
Technical Assistance, £5.5m – cash crop and enterprise training (£2.5m), government capacity
development (£1.5m) and ensuring corruption free implementation (£1.5m);
Rural Employment Guarantee Programme Support £3.6m – support to improve the delivery of
the Karnali Employment Programme and the design of a National Rural Employment Guarantee
Scheme programme; and
Results, Evaluation and policy support, £1.35m – support for third party monitoring, research
and independent evaluation.
Why is UK support required?
High levels of chronic poverty make Nepal the 16th poorest country in the worldi, and one of the most
unequal. Economic growth is hampered by geography and lack of investment, with Nepal having the
lowest road access levels in South Asia. The poor in Nepal are also highly vulnerable to natural,
economic, social and political shocks that trap them on or near the poverty line. In Nepal, all of these
indicators are worse in the Mid and Far Western regions. The government’s capacity is limited to
address these issues, so DFID support is required to provide direct support, develop government and
private sector capacity, and stimulate economic growth in the poorest area of Nepal.UK support is
therefore required now to:
i) Give the poorest access to work, to escape debt and start investing;
ii) Train poor farmers and help them invest in higher value crops and access markets;
iii) Ensure physical access to markets is maintained throughout the year; and
iv) Focus enough support on one geographic area to develop sufficient production in high value
products to sustain private sector markets.
What are the expected results?
RAP is expected to deliver the following high level results:




No of people lifted out of poverty – 20,000 (short term)
No of days of employment generated – 7.5m days
Roads maintained 2,400 Km years (i.e. 600 Km per year for 4 years)
Population benefitting from improved access - 800,000
 Increase 40,000 farmer’s incomes from cash crops by£130 p.a.
Logframe - See attached logframe.
Quest No of logframe for this intervention:
i
Based on GNI/Capita