Rupantar Annual Review and Planning Meeting

The three-day ARPM meeting for the Rupantar project was organized in May at Biratnagar, Nepal. ARPM focused on reviewing progress, aligning strategies for the final implementation year, and deepening thematic engagement across gender, scaling, policy, and MEL. Discussions reflected that we are in the stage of building on activity-level implementation to generate system-level synthesis and legacy planning lessons.

Key updates included findings from fieldwork and semi-structured interviews, progress in cross-country collaboration, and ways to connect research and policy. Discussions emphasized the importance of integrating both technical work (what is being done) and the processes (how it is being done).

A central theme was agricultural diversification—both its drivers and constraints. It is clear that while diversification is largely market-driven and smallholder-led, systemic barriers such as poor infrastructure, weak extension services, and skewed policy priorities remain. Sessions highlighted trade-offs and synergies across different diversification pathways, explored the role of informal markets and private actors, and reviewed adoption dynamics based on qualitative and quantitative data. The role of digital tools, AI, and improved data systems was discussed as critical to supporting evidence-based decision-making and scaling. Country teams shared insights on field activities, student contributions, and collaborations with partners such as other ACIAR projects.

In terms of forward planning, the group agreed on a set of coordinated actions across gender integration, policy engagement, communication outputs, and capacity building. Specific steps include refining the monitoring framework, documenting gender-related outcomes, strengthening stakeholder engagement, and enhancing tools developed in the project (i.e. ScAD and other process based approaches). The need for contextual analysis, targeted engagement, and flexible, inclusive scaling strategies was reinforced as central to achieving sustainable and equitable food systems in the project's final year.