Land Bank in Nepal: Is it relevant?

The government of Nepal has allocated USD 4,263,300 (NPR 500 million) in the annual budget and work plan for the establishment of a Land Bank that would operate in 300 municipal levels.

With its announcement, a debate emerged as to whether the establishment of a land bank is essential in the current context and to what extent it will contribute to ambitious government targets related to land.

This position paper draws upon decades of engaged research, activism and advocacy on land and agrarian issues in Nepal, as well as multi-stakeholder deliberations with experts, land and resource users. It intends to explicitly address the effectiveness of the Land Bank policy, as proposed.