Circular Economy Pathways for Agricultural Waste Management in Nepal: Prospects and Barriers

Avyash Shiwakoti

No 5aeg3_v1, SocArXiv from Center for Open Science

Abstract: The circular economy (CE) offers a practical alternative to the linear “take–make–dispose” model dominating Nepal’s agricultural system, which employs approximately 61% of the workforce and contributes around 22% of GDP. Despite its significance, open burning or unregulated disposal largely mismanages agricultural waste, including crop residues, livestock manure, and agro-chemical packaging. This conceptual review examines the applicability of CE principles to Nepal’s agricultural waste sector at national and sub-national policy levels. Drawing on the Ellen MacArthur Foundation framework and recent Nepal-specific studies, the paper identifies four key opportunities: crop residue valorization, livestock waste-to-biogas systems, agro-industrial circular clusters (CEICs), and enabling mechanisms such as digital residue aggregation platforms and extended producer responsibility. However, significant barriers persist, including fragmented landholdings, weak institutional coordination, high infrastructure costs, and limited farmer awareness. The paper argues that CE is not optional but essential for Nepal’s resource-constrained federal context. Three policy priorities emerge: developing a national CE roadmap for agricultural waste, strengthening biogas–biofertilizer value chains through market-based mechanisms, and piloting inter-municipal CEICs across agro-ecological zones. This review contributes to evidence-based policymaking for sustainable agricultural transformation in Nepal.

Date: 2026-05-25
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://osf.io/download/6a1293bd974cbf38943862bd/

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:osf:socarx:5aeg3_v1

DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/5aeg3_v1

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in SocArXiv from Center for Open Science
Bibliographic data for series maintained by OSF ().