Kathmandu, 18 November: The Rural Enterprise and Economic Development (REED) project was jointly launched today by  Minister of Agriculture and Livestock Development, Mahindra Ray Yadav and World Bank Country Director for Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka,  Faris Hadad-Zervos. The project aims to boost Nepal’s agriculture sector by strengthening rural market linkages and promoting entrepreneurship while creating jobs to support post-Covid-19 recovery. The project is financed with an $80 million credit from the World Bank and is expected to leverage additional funding from producers, financial institutions and local governments in the next four years. The REED project will be implemented in selected municipalities in five economic corridors covering Provinces 1, 2, Bagmati, Gandaki, Lumbini and Sudurpashchim to foster sustainable linkages for rural entrepreneurs. The project is aligned with the government’s Agriculture Development Strategy 2015-2035, and will work with provincial and local governments, intermediary organizations, and small and medium enterprises, especially those that are women-led to strengthen the agriculture sector and the entrepreneurship ecosystem. People's News Monitoring Service