This discussion brief is part of the knowledge management and capacity building component of the Consortium for Scaling-up Climate-Smart Agriculture in South Asia (C-SUCSeS) project. CSUCSeS is a joint initiative between the SAARC1 Agriculture Centre (SAC), International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) and International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). It aims to promote bottom-up applied research on climate-smart agriculture (CSA) technologies through active participation of smallholder farmers based on the participatory research experiences in the region. As part of the knowledge management and capacity building component, the project partners were required to develop a community of practice in the target countries including Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. In line with this mandate, IFPRI organized a series of regional forums that aimed to provide a collaborative platform for researchers, extension officials, private sector organizations, entrepreneurs, and practitioners. 

These forums involved webinars and discussions that allowed various stakeholders to exchange knowledge, share practical experiences, and update each other on the latest CSA technologies and innovations from their respective countries. Furthermore, they facilitated mutual learning, enabling participants to explore diverse challenges and discuss specific technical, social, and policy-related issues surrounding CSA implementation. Following the first webinar on Bangladesh, the second session focused on Nepal and was held with the participation of stakeholders from across the region. The keynote presentation was delivered by Dr. Tika Bahadur Karki, Chief of the National Agronomy Research Center (NARC) under the Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC). Dr. Karki holds an MSc in Agronomy from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute and a PhD from Tribhuvan University. He is widely published in national and international journals, a contributor to several book chapters, and currently serves as the President of the Agronomy Society of Nepal. His research interests include conservation agriculture, climate-smart agriculture technologies, and integrated farming systems. Dr. Karki presented on behalf of the National Agriculture Environment Research Center (NAERC), which is the lead implementing partner for the C-SUCSeS project in Nepal. His presentation focused on the status, challenges, and opportunities related to climate-smart technologies in Nepal. The presentation was followed by a moderated discussion and Q&A session involving participants from across South Asia.